The Esper Devil ( Esper OC X Highschool DxD )
by Esper-from-beyond
Summary: The era of heroes is over, with the hero association almost extinct and espers now living in secrecy, the talented son of a legendary esper couple starts attending a school which is under the control of devils. Raised with the mentality that all demons and evil spirits are enemies and carrying an enormous power that is still unknown to most devils, how will he fit in this new life?
1. The prodigy esper

I'm in the middle of a forest, in front of the entrance of a cave

It's almost midnight and in front of me stands dozens of youkais

They have different shapes and sizes, all inhuman monstrosities

A deep, grotesque voice yells at me

"Leave now brat! You won't even serve as a night snack for us!"

I take a step forward and walk towards them, ignoring their words

The annoying voice speaks again

"Did you came all the way here to die brat? Very well then, BECOME ONE OF US!"

They charge towards me from left, right, front and above

My aura envelops my arm as I swing it...

And they are gone

I walk inside the cave, this must be the center of the activity

I can sense other evil spirits in here, but they are hiding...

*STOMP STOMP*

A huge creature, about 9 or 10 feet tall walks towards me

It's horrendous, with six arms, wide and bright yellow eyes, gray, lizard-like skin, two oversized horns in the head and a wide mouth with sharp teeth

"You were the one who dealt with the the guards in the entrance? Hahaha! You surely are no normal human, you'll definitely make a meal suitable for a king!"

So this monstrosity thinks that he is a king? That's amusing...

"King? Look, I wanna head back to the camp so let's just do what we have to do, alright?"

The monster grins and another disgusting laugh echoes through the cave

"Hahaha! You are an insolent one! Very well then, have it your way!"

The other creatures who were hiding come towards me, leaving out guttural screams as they fly in my direction, but they die before even touching me

Seeing his servants killed, their "king" seems mad

"Heh, good job in taking the small fries out, sadly, your efforts will be for nothing, I'll just eat you and create more!"

He charges towards me, mouth wide open

I don't want that near me

I push him away and paralyse him

"Hohoho, so you're quite a powerful brat aren't you? Take this then!"

From his horn comes some sort of large energy blast

It hits me directly

But my barrier stops it and I don't feel anything

Now he seems worried

"J-Just what are you? Are you even human?"

"Yeah, I'm just an esper"

"W-what?"

I use my power to make him bow

"AAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

He screams in pain as he's pinned with his hands and knees on the floor

"I said I am an esper, and you are not a king"

And I exorcise him out of this world

...

It's done

I walk out of the cave and I see them...

The instructors and the espers who are in training

I smile and wave towards them

A girl walks towards me

"Great work Tatseyo! As expected of the legendary esper's son! You did the work that not even a whole team could do without a scratch!"

They are flattering me, I really don't know how to answer...

"It was nothing really, I hope you guys could get something out of it"

They know what I said wasn't entirely true...

A normal esper would have a hard time in there

But dad told me to be modest

'Remember, we are just humans, commoners, our talent does not make us better or more special than anyone' - It's what he uses to say

One of the boys who seems to be around my age steps forward

"This cave has been the center of anomalies for almost 60 years! You trully are amazing Tatseyo!"

I start taking out my robe and my mask off, I carefully analyze to see if the creature didn't damage it. The beak, the glass visors and the leather are all intact, his power wasn't enough to get through my aura.

"Thank you, but I already said it was nothing"

The chief instructor comes forward

"This demonstration was great Tatseyo! Trully fitting of an esper of your caliber!"

He then turns his back and looks at the young espers gathered around us

"Okay boys and girls, time to head back. We all have a full day of work tomorrow, and you can say goodbye to Tatseyo later. Be ready cause we're going to analyze this demonstration"

The young espers let out "ahhhh" and annoyed sighs, sorry, but it can't be helped, I wish I could train with you guys.

"Well, my job here is done then."

The chief instructor answers

"I guess so, I'm really thankful to you, the son of the legendary esper couple, to think that you would have a mission here and would let us tag along, you did something great for the espers who are still in training"

I was actually just doing a favour for a friend, I really think it wasn't that much

"No, I am the one who should be thanking you, usually these missions are really lonely, but I had a great time in here with you all, thank you for your hospitality"

I bow to him

"Now, now, lift your head! Don't you think you'll be leaving without a farewell party!"

Farewell party? Man, I really wanted to get some rest after this, well, at least there'll be food, I'm kinda hungry right now.

We make our way back, the other espers go ahead of us while I and the chief instructor talk

"Are you excited about the new school? I heard it's a really good one"

Yes, the new school, when mother heard it was now accepting boys as well she almost forced me to join in, father was also happy since now I would attend a normal school like he did

"Not very much... I've spent most of my education being home schooled and learning from other espers, this might be very weird to me"

He taps my back

"C'mon, cheer up, I heard there are a lot of girls in there, maybe it'll be the start of your spring Tatseyo! Though I don't know if 'that person' is going to like you snooping around. Ahahahaha!"

"What are you talking about! I already told you there is noth..."

Before I can finish answering his remark, something, or rather someone, jumps at me wrapping it's arms around my neck

"Tachan~~!"

I hear the girl's voice as I lose my balance

"Ouch!"

I fall to the ground and the tanned, energetic girl falls on top of me

"Ayumu! Be careful!"

Ayumu Yatsushiro, the only childhood friend I have, a high class esper, expert on pirokinesis.

"You are so awesome Tachan! I'm starting to get jealous of you! Ahahahaha!"

She declares loudly while not moving an inch to stand or remove her arms from around my neck

We've know each other since we were kids, at that time I thought she was a boy, she has short hair and an energetic attitude since she was a child, no matter how I look, pirokinesis is definitely a power that matches her personality.

Also, she was flat as a surfboard a few years ago, but lately...

"Ayumu, could you please let go off me?"

I can feel her breasts pressing against my chest! Seriously, when did they grown like that?

Seeing me so flustered, the instructor decides to intervene

"Yatsushiro-chan, we were just talking about you"

"Uhm? Really? About what?"

Ayumu looks at me confused, this asshole really likes to put me in a tight spot!

"Nothing! More importantly, have you been getting hurt lately?"

One of the reasons why Ayumu became my friend is because she is one of the few who can stand close to my level, but her pirokinesis and explosion power are so big that she has problems controlling them, causing harm to herself sometimes

She shakes her head

"No, it seems I'm getting better at controlling it! Hehehe, soon I'll be able to stand at your level Tachan"

*Sigh*

I'm glad she's not hurt but this girl worries me a lot.

Oh, and about this nickname, "Tachan", I've already asked her to stop calling me that more times than I can count, but she just kept ignoring to the point I got used to it.

"That's good, but don't push yourself so much, okay?"

She nods happily

"Okay!"

*Caham*

The instructor clears his throat to call our attention

"Are you two planning to stay like this the whole night?"

Ayumu puts her tongue out

"Sorry, sorry~~"

She then jumps, landing on her ankles and regaining her balance

I just stand up normally

"By the way Tachan, Kuriko-san said she wanted to see you"

I feel a chill down my spine hearing this name

"K-Kuriko?"

Ayumu nods to confirm what I said

"Uhum, she said that she had something important to talk to you"

The chill I felt only got worse, what could Kuriko possibly want to talk to me?

"Couldn't she send me a message with that telepathy she loves so much? Or just teleport here instead of asking you?"

Ayumu shakes her head

"Apparently it's very serious, she wants to meet you in person and without anyone else around"

This is only getting worse

"Tachan why do you look so worried? Do you hate Kuriko-san or something?"

"No Ayumu, I don't hate her. It's just... she is a really complicated person don't you think?"

She tilts her head

"Complicated?"

Kuriko, the girl who is considered the world's most talented young esper, just like me she inherited her powers from her parents and through constant evolution she reached the stage she is now. Just like me, she barely did any training, relying on talent and experience alone to move forward, but unlike me, she disdains most of the esper community, it's like she sees those weaker than her as underdogs or something, I'm one of the few espers outside her family who has direct contact with her.

And that wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for her personality, she is a very arrogant person that believes to be on top of every existence and to make it worse she talks in a very confusing way

"What is it Tatseyo?"

The coach asks me

"I think Tachan is scared because she's stronger than him~"

Ayumu says in a teasing tone

"C'mon, you guys don't think there's something weird with her? Like she's hiding something from everyone?"

Ayumu shrugs

"There's no way we'd know that, she doesn't talk to us"

Ah, yeah there's that too, she is so arrogant she won't even talk to someone she deems unworthy of her time, I was surprised she actually asked Ayumu to talk to me.

I sigh

"Oh yeah, she does that, frankly she's so full of herself..."

The instructor laughs it off

"Haha, but maybe that's to be expected isn't it? I mean, in terms of power she is probably above all the young espers, it's normal for someone, specially on her age, to act like that if they are so talented, people like you and Ayumu are rare in this world, Tatseyo"

I shake my head

"Stop that! Me and Ayumu wouldn't think we are better than any of you, it shouldn't be rare for people to respect others despite their power level"

Ayumu comes forward and hugs my arm

"That's why I like you so much Tachan!"

"He-hey! Ayumu let go!"

I can feel _them_ on my arm! But she doesn't care and just keep clinging to me

"Hehe, even if you are powerful you always treat everyone nicely"

She shouldn't be clinging to someone like this, it was fine when we were children but it seems she just didn't learn restraint

"I would never treat someone poorly because of that"

"You guys sure are one of a kind..."

Both me and Ayumu laugh at his words, yeah, there's no way we would become so arrogant because of our powers

"Hey, Tachan, have you managed to find it?"

I look at Ayumu confused

"Find what?"

She fidgets a bit before asking

"You know... your special skill"

Ah, so that's it

I scratch my head

"No, sorry, I still don't know what my special skill is"

Her eyes grow huge at my answer

"It's not important! Even if you don't have a skill you are still strong!"

"Ayumu is right Tatseyo, you have a lot of powers already, I don't think a skill would make any difference to you"

I look at the floor

"I know, but mom and dad have a special skill, even Ayumu has, it's hard for me to believe I wasn't born with one"

"Maybe your skill is being so strong Tachan!"

Ayumu says trying to cheer me up

"Thanks, but I don't think that can be called a skill..."

The instructor speaks while lifting his hand

"I wouldn't get so worked up about it Tatseyo, in the end a special skill never made any difference to you right?"

I nod my head

"Yeah, you guys are right"

I smile back at them

Ayumu hugs my arm even tighter

"I don't care about skills, you are amazing as it is"

Even though I would like to have one like mom and dad, what I have is more than enough.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Ayumu jumps back as if reminded of something

"I promised I would help in the preparations for Tachan's farewell party!"

"Uhm? You too?"

She puffs her chest forward

"Of course! I was the one who gave the idea!"

What?!

"So it was you?!"

"Duuh! I was the one who invited you here, it's only natural for me to be the one who suggested the party!"

Yeah, I don't even know why I was surprised, doing things like that is just like Ayumu

"Be sure to show up, alright Tachan?"

I nod

"Don't worry, I'll be there"

She smiles

"And be ready, 'cause I'll make you tell me everything you and Kuriko talk about!"

She says it before running ahead to catch up with the other espers

I feel the instructor's hand on my shoulder

"Heh, you should be happy Tatseyo, not many guys can say they have a friend like her"

I nod

"Yeah, Ayumu is a great girl"

He answers with a wide grin

"I'm sure she is"

"Don't have any weird ideas, I already said we are not like that!"

He gives small chuckle

"Anyway, there's something I wanna talk with you, if you still have time"

I nod my head

"Okay, it's not like I'm in a hurry to see Kuriko anyway..."

But it's better if we talk quick, she would just come after me if I don't show up

The instructor points at the luggage I'm carrying, inside of it is the robe and mask I was using before in the cave.

"Tatseyo, have you decided on what you are going to do? I've heard you were traveling around the country and even in foreign cities doing some errands as an exorcist, but your parents want you to finish school before you decide what you are going to do, you have any idea of what you want already?"

I frown at his question, this is a matter that I still don't know how to adress.

"I... still don't know, with the hero profession mostly over I still wonder if I can make the most of my abilities by being a professional esper. I have doubts about that and if it's even that what I want"

With the end of the organized monsters, the heroes soon lost their purpose. The hero association barely exists anymore and with that, many heroes have gone into hiding, some heroes have many enemies from the past and espers are disliked by pretty much everyone, even religious institutions don't like to be associated with us, so we decided it would be better to hide.

Heroes and espers had everything about them buried, this was the last favor granted by the, now nearly extinct, "Hero Association" to shield the ones who once protected this country and now want to live a quiet life.

Psychics now have the status of urban legends, we live hiding our true nature and I've even heard of some neighborhoods made specificaly for espers.

We now live either from normal jobs or taking bounty missions to hunt evil spirits and demons from governments, individuals or religious groups, though we are only treated as mercenaries. None of them are willing to share their intel with us. But we are fine with this, it's not like we want to get associated with them anyway.

"Hey don't frown so much, you are making me scared! You have some pretty scary eyes you know? Hahahahaha"

"So-sorry, sometimes I forget about that..."

He taps my back

"Sorry, don't look so upset, I was just joking, after the end of the monster association, most heroes either retired or are now working in other jobs, however, espers like me and your mom decided to keep working with the supernatural, even if we have to hide, but you know it's not an obligation, your father works at a normal job right?"

I nod my head

"Yeah, mom doesn't like it"

Even though she's retired, she still works every now and then when emergencies involving demons or evil spirits appear

"I think you have to choose what suits you the most, forget about what they expect from you, go with what you love and that will be the right choice."

I nod

"Yeah, I think you are right"

"Anyway, right now I think you should go see Kuriko, wouldn't wanna let miss 'strongest young esper' waiting"

I give a long sigh before agreeing

"Yeah, even if I didn't went she would come after me anyway"

"Tell her I said hi"

I wave my hand

"Will do"

Though, knowing her, she won't care...

 **Afterword** : Alright! I've been working on this fic for a few months, it's my first one so I want it to be good and now I'm posting the first chapter here. If you liked it, if you have any questions or if you wanna give suggestions please tell me. I'm gonna mix elements from Mob 100 and OPM, but this story will be mostly settled in the Highschool DxD universe, only that my characters will be Espers instead of Sacred Gear users or magicians, look forward to it!


	2. The future that awaits

I reach the place where Ayumu said that Kuriko would be waiting for me

A tall hill in the same forest where the esper camp is located

Trees and greenery covered by the moonlight as far as the eye can see...

But there's no one here

After some time waiting I think about leaving, but Kuriko is not the type to play pranks so I wait and just a few minutes later I feel a presence

It's her, there's no doubt

"Kuriko, show yourself, I can feel your presence"

A brief silence followed by a playful laughter

"Huhuhu, as expected I can't hide myself from you"

She walks from behind a tree and I can see her even though she looks a bit... transparent

"Are you trying to use your invisibility against me? That won't work on espers"

Even if she hides her physical appearance we can still feel her presence and see her spiritual strength

"Sorry, sorry, I was just testing you a little. Just to make sure you are not getting rusty"

I can hear her voice inside my head and she is not moving her lips, as expected, she only talks using telepathy

"I've been travelling around the world for a while, I've been hunting ghosts, youkais and demons, I assure you I'm not rusty"

I reply annoyed by her provocation

She tilts her head with a smile on her face

"Oh, is that so? Good to hear... After all, you are gonna need it"

Need it? Don't tell me...

"Did you called me all the way here to challenge me?"

She laughs at my question

"No, god no, don't worry. I wouldn't lose my time with meaningless things like that, but I did come here to give you a warning"

This doesn't sound good, a warning coming from her?

"About what?"

She sits in one of the several large stones that are laying around the hill and then glares at the nightsky

"Tatseyo, I had a prediction, and it envolved you"

A prediction?!

"Y-you mean you saw the future? My future?"

I already know that one of her many powers is the ability to see into future events, but I never imagined she would ever have a vision about me

"Yes, however, my powers of prediction are limited, it takes in account the relevance and the proximity of the event, but lately I've been receiving visions of an awful event that is drawing closer..."

"Awful event?! What is it?"

I am extremely worried, if it's something that even Kuriko would label as 'awful' then it must be truly serious!

"But it doesn't concern us yet"

She says that waving her hand

"Hey, don't dismiss the subject like that!"

I yell at her but she simply smiles, this girl, I really can't stand her!

"When the time comes, you'll understand. Now about your future..."

There she goes, changing the subject as she pleases!

"...I've seen a dark devil in your future, when you meet it, you'll change your whole view of the world and two paths will open in front of you, after that it's up to your decision."

I'm confused about what she just revealed me

"A dark devil? What are you talking about? I'll have to fight this demon?"

She shakes her head

"My vision won't show me all the details, all I know is that a huge opportunity will present itself to you when you meet this devil, so be prepared."

"You keep talking about future and devils but I don't understand this, which path am I supposed to choose?"

Kuriko closes her eyes

"I told you, it's all up to you, the future is not linear and unchangable, there are plenty of ways one can change the future. Even I can't predict all the ways a human can interfere in it."

I put my hand in my forehead

"So let me see if I got it right: You're telling me you had a prediction that something important is going to happen to me?

She nods

"Exactly!"

"I'll meet a dark devil, as you're calling it, and somehow this will change my life?"

"Precisely!"

"But you don't know which path I'm supposed to choose?"

"Only you can build your future"

"Nice, I get it, and you really won't tell me anything about the awful event you predicted?"

"Evertyhing at it's right time"

As expected, she really won't tell me

"Fufufu, I wonder which kind of future will you build? I'm looking forward to it!"

She's really having fun with me

"So that's it? Nothing else to ad?"

She thinks for a minute before smiling back, I don't like her smile, it doesn't bring me any comfort at all

"Oh yeah, good luck on your new school"

I sigh, so that's just it, don't know why I expected something more useful from her

"Alright, I'm going then"

"Wait a minute Tatseyo!"

I turn back

"What is it?"

A mischievous smile appears on her face

"Your skill, have you found it already?"

I frown and reply annoyed

"You know I haven't"

She then smiles more, removing one of the gloves she constantly wears

"Want me to use my psychometry on you? Maybe we can find out this way"

I'm taken by surprise, this girl is willing to do me a favor?

"W-what? Would you really do it?"

She nods

"Yes, of course, just come here"

I already asked other psychometry users to check me for my skill, but they never found anything useful, but if it's Kuriko, then maybe she'll find it out!

I take a step towards her, but then I stop

"You are not going to ask something weird in exchange are you?"

She puts a on a hurtful expression

"You really think of me so lowly?"

And then starts laughing again

I shrug

"Well, it's you after all..."

She sighs

"Actually Tatseyo, I'm curious about your skill too"

My eyes wide at this confession

"You are too?"

"Yes, my visions didn't show it to me and after what I saw in it I want to know more about your powers, that's all I'm asking."

I see, guess even someone like Kuriko has things she's curious about...

"If it's like that then it's okay..."

I walk up to her and she puts her hand against my forehead

"Now let's begin~~"

She says

Her hand rests on my forehead for a few moments and then...

"Ugh!"

Kuriko's expression changed! A frown emerged on her face and she gritted her teeth

This girl who is always so calm and looking down on others is legitimately nervous right now!

"Ku-Kuriko? What happened?"

She doesn't answer me and instead only removes her hand from my forehead, I can see sweat forming on her face

"I s-see... Like father like son I guess"

Stuttering? Not only speaking out of her own mouth but stuttering too? And what's with this "like father like son"?

"H-hey Kuriko, what did you saw?"

Not only this was one of the rare occasions Kuriko actually spoke, I never in my life imagined Kuriko could make a face like that! It was a panicked expression, like an innocent kid watching a horror movie while it's parents are on a night out.

Kuriko quickly regains her composure and gives a simple answer

"I couldn't see your skill, I'm sorry"

What?! I'm not buying this one!

"There's no way in hell you didn't saw it! Why were you so scared then?"

She replies with an annoyed expression

"It's precisely because I couldn't see it that I showed you something so... unsightly, I'm sorry for that"

Well, I can actually believe in that, for someone as proud in her powers as Kuriko, not being able to do something must have been quite a shock, even if I think she exaggerated a bit

I shake my head

"It's okay, but are you alright?"

"Yes, I am fine now."

She puts her gloves back and stands on top of the rock

"But just because I couldn't see it, doesn't mean you don't have one"

"And what did you mean with 'like father like son'?"

When she said that I was thinking that maybe I had an ability like father's but if it's not that then what did she meant?

A small grin forms on her face

Oh no, I already know what this grin means

"Let me guess: That's up for me to find out?"

The small grin turns into a broad smile

"What would be the fun if I just gave you all the answers?"

Eh, I already knew it, she won't make things easy for me

"Well now, if you don't mind, I have other places to be"

"Aren't you going to join the party?"

Kuriko turns to me with a face that just screams 'you are shitting me, right?' She's definitely that guy's child.

"I'm just kidding, say hi to Kusuo-san and your mother for me alright?"

She nods

"Yeah, I will, father will like to hear about you"

She then disappears completely, teleporting out of this place

...

I don't think she'll them I said hi


	3. A school full of demons

Beforeword: I wanna thank those who gave my story a favorite and "Itsuki Minami1" and "Ddraig the invincible" for the reviews. I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, but Tatseyo is not Saiki Kusuo's child, Kuriko is, she even used the same powers as him. I hope this new chapter will make Tatseyo's blood relations clearer.

Also, to avoid misunderstandings regarding the timeline: This story begins between volumes 8 and 9 (between Season 3 and 4 in the anime) of DxD. Rias's peerage is complete, Loki has been defeated, the match against Sairaorg is going to happen, the enemy now is the hero faction and they are preparing for their trip to Kyoto, that's the context where Tatseyo will arrive at Kuoh Academy.

Comment if you have any suggestions, questions or just want to compliment. Let's go!

* * *

Part 1

Well, here I am, Kuoh Academy.

The large campus and tall facilities can be seem even from afar. I had only seem it in the ads, but this place is really big, I hope I won't get lost.

Some time ago it only accepted girls but now it's accepting boys as well, mom said that it was a golden opportunity and father, although disaproval of the idea of sending me to another town, didn't opposed her, he wanted for a long time to have me attend a normal school like he did.

Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, right? My name is Tatseyo Kageyama, son of the great esper Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama and the psychic former hero Tatsumaki "Tornado of Terror".

During my whole life I've been relying on my talent to become more powerful, unlike many espers who had to go through training to control their powers.

Mom and dad know a lot of influent people in the esper community, so for many years I've received lessons from espers not only from Japan but from other parts of the world as well, this is my first time attending a normal school since early kindergarten, where my powers first started to affect my daily life.

Mom and dad are very different, sometimes I even wonder how they got together…

Despite of his powers, dad refuses to use them for personal gain, much to mother's despair. He always taught me that psychic powers are not a toy, nor they make me better than anyone else, and I think he is right. When he was around my age he also hunted demons, evil spirits and youkais, but ever since he got a normal job and mom retired from the hero world, she has been doing most of the exorcism works for the family.

I was born with psychic powers, at a very young age I could already move heavy things with my mind and I never worked hard for almost anything and I don't have any hobbies or activities I'm really engaged into.

'Life is about helping others' - That's what dad always tells me

I want to find a way to make my power useful, I don't know exactly what I want to be, but I want to use this power to make the world a better place somehow. Unlike father, who decided to only use his powers when absolutely necessary and works at a normal job, I want to live a life where I can use my powers, like mom does, but I don't think exorcising youkais and evil spirits is making the most out of it.

I never did any training even to reinforce my abilities, my powers naturally increase as I mature and get more experienced with them, most of what I did was study about the supernatural world, spirits, youkais and the like, besides the regular lessons one would have at school, I've also digged into these studies with the help of other espers.

I also took many jobs to get rid of demons and ghosts, that helped me to get more experienced with my powers.

I can move incredible weights at high speed with my psychokinesis, create almost unbreakable shields, move even things who are miles away from me just by sensing their location, increase to abnormal levels my physical traits (strength,speed,reflexes,etc), freely manipulate energy and the spiritual flow, deconstruct or reassamble matter at molecular levels, and most importantly: My powers let me interact with the spiritual world.

That's one of the most dangerous aspects of an esper's power, we can see and sense the presence of spirits, ghosts, demons and such, we can also fight them with our pshychic powers to send them back to the other world, but that means they can do the same thing to us if we're not careful.

As I walk towards the main entrance, I can already see a group of girls with Kuou Academy's uniform talking and giggling while they make their way school, suddenly, a boy with the male uniform approaches one of them from behind, he lifts her skirt, revealing a blue panty, and runs away

They already do that so early in the morning?

The girl screams, but the boy is already far from her reach, I'm standing just a few feet away from the scene, so she angrily turns towards me, probably to vent of her frustration at me

"Did you saw anything, perve… kyah!"

The eyes of the girl and her friends grow huge when they actually see me

Oh yeah, I did forget to mention but if there's something unordinary about me besides my powers it would be what some would call "an intimidating look"

I have senpaku eyes and an expression that tends to scare people, those who don't know me sometimes think that I'm a deliquent.

"W-w-who are you?"

I give them a smile to calm them, but it doesn't seem to be working

"I'm a new student here at Kuoh academy, I'm looking for my class, could any of you help me?"

She tries to keep a calm look and answers me before walking off with her friends

"Sorry, but we're gonna be late, try talking with a member of the Student Council or something"

And I'm left with my thoughts again... socializing is problematic isn't it?

That's what scared me the most when I heard I was going to attend a normal school. Hiding my powers won't be that hard but making friends here is probably going to be.

I can hear their voices while they distance themselves

"What a scary guy, I thought he was going to hurt us!"

"Did you saw that disparaging smile of his? I was sure we would get bullied by him!"

"He'll be attending the same school as us? Scary! I hope he's not in our class"

It stings, but it can't be helped, I knew this was going to happen when I was told I would be attending a school in a town where no one knows me

I take a deep breath and close my eyes

Controlling my emotions is a really important thing for espers like me, mom and dad, so we don't go berserk and hurt people.

It happens that when extremely strong espers become overwhelmed by some sort of emotion, our powers explode and we can cause a huge ammount of destruction around us. When my father was young, he suppresed his emotions with sheer willpower, but it was ineffective and many times he just exploded and many people were harmed because of it. I am able to control my 100% to an extent by concentrating, at least much better than my father could.

But... I still have problems with controlling my emotions, I'm just a teenager after all, so it can't be helped, I know that's not a good excuse and I have to do better but give me a break!

And, well, I have what I think it might be an achievement: I never had to actually go beyond that.

I know, you must be thinking: "What could be beyond 100%?"

Well, honestly, I don't know, no one knows.

All we know is that when father was in the face of death or when the life of someone he holds dear is threatened, he simply lost reason and something inside of him acted on instinct causing an immense ammount of destruction and chaos.

This is called the "unknow percentage" or "? ? ?%"

Father already reached the "unknow percentage" a few times, and even talked to the "thing" he deemed responsible for it, so they know what it might cause thus make their best to control it, but as for me, I never reached it, but considering my powers are a combination of both mom and dad, it's safe to assume the ammount of destruction could be even greater than his.

It is unknow whether only father can do it, but there were rumours about other strong espers undergoing unusual transformations in the past.

Well, thinking about this now is useless.

I take a deep breath and prepare to get in the school grounds, maybe find other second years who know where the class is…

!

As soon as I start approaching the school's front gate, I feel something terrible

Demonic energy!

I instinctively expand the aura around my body and start looking around

Where is it coming from? Is there a demon nearby? I pass the school gates and make my way to the highschool building

My senses don't tickle for none of the students passing by

Yes, none of them are demons, they are not the issue

It's the school! This whole campus, it all reeks of demonic energy!

I get inside the school grounds and start to go further, the deeper I go the more the energy grows, when I get inside the highschool building I can feel it reached it's peak.

This is not good, should I get out of here? No, if none of the human students noticed it, then it means there is no immediate threat, or maybe they are being brain washed?

Just as I was thinking about this, I sense three demonic presences getting closer

Could it be an attack? At this time of day? I front of everyone?

In this situation, Kuriko's words ring into my mind

'You'll meet a dark devil and from there you'll have two paths to follow'

Right now? Will I meet this devil right here already? And it brought company?

Seriously, the last thing I wanted in my first day was to be forced to use my powers, specially in public, but now it seems I don't have a choice. This school seems to be completely dominated by demonic presence.

I expand my aura and stand in the entrance hall with the stairs right behind me, facing the main door.

I feel the presences getting closer and closer

I lift my hand and prepare to blast the entrance at the first sign of danger

*Step, step, step*

It's getting closer

*Step step*

But then when the door opens

I'm left speechless...

What appears in front of me are three completely human figures

One of them is an absolutely gorgeous crimson haired girl, whose hair waves as she walks

It takes me more than a moment to take my eyes away from her and look at the two companions

A brown haired boy and a blonde haired one

It's them, the demonic presence I felt definitely comes from these three!

The crimson haired beauty seems to be bothered by something, she starts to look around, the blonde boy also seems nervous

She must have felt my energy, I pull my aura back to hide it

After I do that, she makes a troubled face, no surprise, an energy like mine appearing and disapearing from nowhere must have been quite a shock for a demon

But what is going on here? I have to search more

By directing my awareness towards someone I can feel even deep hidden energies

I direct it towards them, and as soon as I start searching...

What's this?

I feel a chill down my spine

One of them has an enormous hidden power!

More than a demon, this is dragon level at least! It's coming from the boy who is caring the girl's bag, could he be the dark devil?

What exactly should I do now? I can't start a fight with these many students around and I also don't know if they are real demons or just regular students being possessed.

A loud voice takes me back to reality

"Kyaaa! Why is Rias onee-sama and Kiba-kun walking with that pervert?"

"I hope idiocy is not contagious!"

"Just die Issei!"

Some students are yelling at one of the guys at the trio

The brown haired kid turns his gaze to the floor, so he must be Issei, he is carrying the bag of the crimson haired girl, whose name apparently is Rias. So the blond boy must be Kiba.

The other two give a troubled smile at the not so subtle comments towards their friend and try to keep chatting like nothing happened.

As they keep walking, I just stare at them...

When I notice, they are already passing right in front of me.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

Issei probably noticed my staring and asked me this with a worried expression, the other boy looks at me confused, but Rias seems suspicious

I can see she's different from the other two, did she notice my aura? What should I tell them?

Well, since I decided not to start a fight here, I might as well just ask what I need...

"Not actually, I'm a new student and I don't know where my class is, are you three in the second year?"

Issei raises his hand

"Me and Kiba are, you can come with us if you want"

Rias and Kiba drop their suspicious expressions and nod their heads

First day and I'm already getting help from demons?

How neat...

Part 2

As we walk through the hallway Rias turns to me and asks

"You must be Tatseyo Kageyama right?"

"Hum?"

So she knows who I am?

"Y-yes, how did you know that?"

"Buchou has ties with the student council, so she knows things like that"

Kiba answers my question with a smile

That seems like a lie, knowing that a new student will arrive is normal, but knowing my name too? That's fishy. Also, did Kiba just called her "Buchou"?

"I am Rias Gremory, I'm a third year, this is Kiba Yuuto and Issei Hyoudou, they are second-years just like you"

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, tell me Rias-senpai, Yuuto-kun just called you Buchou didn't he? Are you the president of something?"

"We are members of the Occult Research club, we search about the paranormal and things like that"

Issei explains

Paranomal? Father told me that in his middle school days there was a club like that in his school, they searched about telepathy and such things, but it was mostly an excuse to laze around, though father also told me they did manage to find someone who could use telepathy in the end...

Wait, does that mean they know what an esper is? And that I am one? I should be careful around them untill I can tell for sure

The one who asks this time is Issei

"So Kageyama-kun, where are you from?"

"Seasoning city"

He and Kiba exchange confused glances while Rias chuckles a little

"Sorry, we never heard about it, that's an unusual name for a city..."

He gives an awkard smile

"It's fine, most people don't know about our town. And if you think the name of the town is weird, you should check the school names over there"

The three chuckle at my remark, that wasn't a joke you know...

As we walk through the hallway I notice that Kiba and Rias are quite popular, almost everyone greets them with a smile and a compliment. Issei on the other hand only receives mean remarks about how he shouldn't be so close to the school's idols.

Geez, even if he's a devil I'm starting to feel sorry for him

And about me? Well, since I'm new everybody greets me, but I can see they are avoiding to look me in eye.

But most importantly, during this whole time I was also trying to sense the presence of anything resembling a "dark devil".

My suspicions were focused on Issei at first, even though I don't know what a "dark devil" is supposed to be like, but now I don't think it's neither of them.

Not that it matters though, a demon is still a demon, wherever they are it's my duty to get rid of them.

As we get closer to our class, Rias and Kiba say their farewell and leave for their classrooms, so I'm on the same class as Issei huh?

As they distance themselves I can tell even more clearer that the energy I've felt before comes from this Issei, the hidden energy within his body is a serious threat. Even if he's not the "dark devil", I must deal with it as soon as I get a chance.

We finaly reach our classroom, in front of the door stands a beautiful silver haired woman that politely greets us

She also reeks of demonic energy…

Really? Another one? What's more, I can feel demonic energy from inside the class as well, that means there's more waiting for me inside

She smiles at us

"Hi Issei-kun, please go inside, the class will start soon"

"Okay sensei, see ya Kageyama-kun"

Issei goes inside the classroom and she turns to me

"So, you must be Tatseyo Kageyama right?"

I look at her from head to toe, she's quite young for a teacher, and I can tell without a doubt that she is a demon.

"Yes, from Seasoning City."

"I am Rossweisse, hope you'll enjoy our school and get along with everyone"

Well, for a demon she's quite charming and polite...

Yeah, as if!

This must be some sort of trick, I gotta keep my guard up!

"Thank you, I'm looking forward to it"

I'll keep my disguise untill I have a better idea about what to do

As I touch the doorknob to get inside the classroom, "sensei" let's out a screech

"Ehhh! I forgot to bring today's assignments!"

I turn around and see a deeply troubled Rossweisse checking inside the case in her hand looking for something that's apparently not there.

"Sorry Kageyama-kun, I'll have to go to the teacher's room for a second, please go in and make yourself comfortable"

She dashes through the corridor before I even get a chance to answer. Is it okay for a teacher to run in the hallways?

I shrug and get inside the classroom.

There's still no teacher around, so the students are at ease, talking with each other, joking, some are even sleeping.

A few of them notice me and start whispering to each other. I glare at them and they lower their heads and advert their gaze, did I scare them?

Well, guess the first thing to do is find a place to sit, I take the seat that's more on the back of the room

Once inside the class, I can see who are the responsibles for the demonic energy I felt outside the classroom...

Well, I can see it, but I can't believe it!

A cute blonde and a beautiful blue haired girl!

Without a doubt the demonic energy comes from them.

And more!

There is also a chestnut haired girl who emmanates a ridiculous ammount of holy aura! I never sensed something like it, not even in priests, what is going on in this school?

Suddenly a conversation catches my attention, Issei seems to be getting scolded by two male students

"ISE! One of my sources told me that he saw you in the shopping district in company of not only Akeno-san but Xenovia-san as well! How come you be so lucky? You son of a bitch!" - Said the one with glasses

"We won't forgive you if you make a move on one of the school's precious gems!" - Said the shaved head one

Issei, visually troubled, replies:

"That's not what you think, we were just shopping for supplies for the club, that's all there is!"

Issei is a womanizer? This guy with a very plain appearance, light brown hair and average face?

Well, maybe even a total regular guy can find love in this school? I hope so, I really could live a happy life here: a girlfriend, college, that would be nice. This town is quite good, but my duty comes first

Yeah, exorcising these demons is a priority

Issei and the two boys seem like they are friends, even though he's a devil and the other two are clearly human.

I don't have many friends and most of them are other espers, we try to hide our powers from normal people and if they find out they either get scared or try to use us for their advantage, it happened once with my father when he was in middle school. That's why I don't show my powers to normal people. But even with my friends who are espers there were not many who I am close with, besides Ayumu.

If it wasn't for her, I probably would have been really lonely

Due to my powers being many times stronger than most espers I was separated from them, some were scared of me and some thought I would be arrogant because of my powers and family. Even creatures classified as A-rank anomalies or Dragon level threats were quite easy for me to handle, other espers praised me for it, but I never worked hard to achieve such power, so it always felt as easy and not very fulfilling

Also, in some missions I had contact with people called "priests" who can also exorcise demons and such, but they need special weapons and artifacts, whereas espers only need to use mind and willpower to do so.

I never liked the priests, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual, you see, priests and the like are the main force when it comes to battling supernatural forces, they come from different religious institutions around the world, but aside from special training and holy equipments they can't compare to a really strong esper, even so we are mostly called in three situations: Local ghosts and spirits when the locals don't want to or can't call the church, when the church doesn't help or when they finally decides to lower their heads and ask for our help, though that rarely happens.

One time I was called to exorcise a demon (who looked more like a monster) that had already killed 12 priests before they decided to ask for help, talk about stuborn.

Rossweisse sensei enters the classroom and everybody sits down, all the boy's faces suddenly light up, no surprise, she's really pretty: long hair, a beautiful face and a well endowed body, she's a feast for anyone who likes mature girls. She clears her throat and starts speaking:

"Sorry for taking so long, before we start today's lecture, I would like you to welcome our new transfer student, Tatseyo Kageyama, please come forward and introduce yourself"

Crap, I forgot about introductions!

I'm really not a good public speaker, so I lift myself from the seat and slowly walk towards the board and write my name on it even slower while I try to think of something to say.

When I look at my classmates there are many who have terrified expressions and some are even whispering to each other. I guess I can't blame them, even if people tell you can't judge a book by it's cover everyone ends up doing it, it's a natural thing.

"I am Tatseyo Kageyama. I am from Seasoning City, but I'm currently living in the 10th district, I like reading, playing video games and music, hope I can get along with everyone"

I just say the first thing on my head and make my way back to my seat, I wasn't really in the mood for thinking it through, but I believe I delivered it well enough.

With that, Rossweisse starts the class, but I can't really focus because I'm thinking about the situation I'm in.

I've never seen demons like these, they don't seem like a possession case but it's the only explanation I can give at the moment. I've already seen demons and evil spirits with human looks, but Issei and the others seem to be living like completely regular humans, even this Rossweisse behaves like a total regular teacher.

I decide to wait untill class is finished, if nothing weird happened untill now then they probably aren't an immediate threat, but I gotta make sure to keep them in surveilance untill I can take them on without any bystanders around.

...

Actually, something else is weird...

There's no malice in their auras

I've faced my fair share of ghosts, youkais, demons, you name it, and all of them had some sort of malicious intent in their presence, a killing instinct if you want to call it that, and the auras I'm sensing have none of it, like they are passive, not a hint of threat at all. Just what is up in here?

Part 3

Class is over, I start packing my materials along with everyone but paying close attention to Issei.

Rossweise already left but I decided to stay and check the other three.

The cute blonde and the beautiful blue haired girl make their way to Issei.

"Ise-san, president Rias said she wanted to see us in the club this afternoon" - says the blonde one

She really is a cutie, thought the blue haired one doesn't fall behind either, are they all over this guy? Well, he really is powerful, I give him that.

"OK, Asia-chan, I'll go with you two, just wait for me to pack" He answers

The chestnut haired girl with twintails approaches the trio and starts talking with Xenovia, as she moves closer I can clearly sense the flow of her holy aura moving along too

Just what is a holy-aura user doing here? Perharps she already took the job of exorcising the school?

When she gets close to them I imagined a thousand situations in my head

"Xenovia, Asia! I heard of a new cafe that opened just down the street, do you want to come with us? You can come with us too Issei!'

Hum? That's it? A coffee invitation?

"Sorry Irina, but Rias needs us at the club today, can we go together another day?"

"We're sorry, but Rias buchou really needs us to prepare for the school festival, so we are very busy right now, sorry!"

Ah, school festival! I've also heard there'll be a trip to Kyoto soon, damn, it seems I have arrived in one of the busiest times of the school year.

Irina makes a sour expression before smiling again

"Don't worry Asia, we can just do it another day then! See you later!"

She waves farewell and leaves with a group of other girls, how can she be so friendly with them?

Well, maybe I was overthinking, maybe she's an exorcist or priestess that just happens to go to the same school as them, with no relatio to what's happening, but for her not to notice Issei's tremendous hidden aura or the demonic energy that's all around this school?

She must be a begginer or she's just very relaxed at school. Or maybe she's ignoring it on purpose?

I think about going after her, but I decide against it, Issei and the others seem like a more urgent subject to deal with right now

As I'm making considerations about what just happened, the blue haired girl, that Irina addressed as Xenovia, turns to Issei

"Issei... sorry about last night, I didn't expected Rias to get so mad, if you want it we can try it again today, I've brought protection this time!"

She says it as she pulls something out of bag, she's holding it so just the three of them can see but upon closer inspection I see it...

A pack of comdons?!

What the actual fuck? Is this even allowed here? Is that their normal behaviour?

The blonde girl who must be the one called Asia, goes bright red and the boy visually disturbed starts crossing his arms and reprehending Xenovia

"Xenovia-san what are you doing? I already told you to not do this in public!"

He's visualy flustered, just what kind of relationship do they have?

After the chaos has subdued, Xenovia went to wait outside while Issei and Asia packed their books

"All done, let's go!"

As they walk out of the classroom, I notice the evil energies distancing themselves as well.

The Occult Research Club, huh? It was suspicious from the beginning, but now it's obvious that it's just a front for demon activity.

This is going to be interesting...


	4. An unknown threat

Beforeword: I think it will become clear as you read it, but this chapter is Rias's point of view of their first encounter with Tatseyo

* * *

Today Asia, Akeno, Xenovia and Koneko left for school earlier, that left me and Issei with some time alone on our way to school. We ended up meeting Kiba on our way and we've been talking since then

"So, what are you two..."

What's this?

As we get closer to school, I can feel a powerful energy like I've never sensed before!

The others don't seem to have noticed it and I probably can only feel it because of the intensity, but it's something completely different from anything I've ever seem. It's not from a demon, dragon, an angel or mage, it's just completely out of place in here!

And worse, it's coming from the school grounds

"Buchou, you are making a worried face, are you alright?" - Issei asks me

"You seem nervous, is something the matter?" - Kiba also questions

Should I alert them? No, I can't make a fuss over this when I don't even know if it's a real threat

"I'm fine, thanks for worrying about me"

As we get closer to the school building the energy gets clearer, I keep making small talk to distract myself but as we get inside the school building it becomes obvious.

"What is this?"

Kiba asks, so now he can feel it too

"Huh? What?"

Ise on the other hand still looks clueless, guess he still can't feel energies like this one

Kiba seems to be ready to draw his sword

I look around to see if there's anything suspicious

But the energy suddenly disapears

Me and Kiba exchange looks, it doesn't seem like what just happened was simply some sort of interference, I still don't know what it was, but it doesn't seem any good.

"Nothing, Ise-kun, it was probably just my imagination"

Kiba looks at me and we nod to each other

We decided to leave Ise out of this, we shouldn't bother anyone with this untill we know if it's actually something serious.

As we walk towards the stairs, Ise receives the usual mean comments from the other students, I'm sorry Ise, but it seems like you're still not popular at school after all.

As we approach the stairs, I notice him...

A boy who's fixedly staring at us for some time now. I can't feel a thing coming from him, but the energy we've felt wasn't an usual one, maybe it came from him?

"Hey, is everything alright?"

Issei asks him

The boy looks at the ground before speaking, he has scary looking eyes, Japanese people call it senpaku right? He also looks like a deliquent, he reminds me of Riser and that Evil God Loki.

The feeling he gives me is not a good one.

"Actually not, I'm a new student and I don't know where my class is, are you three in the second year?"

Oh, so he is the new student, I've been told his name was Tatseyo Kageyama.

I was worrying over nothing, he's just lost.

Issei raises his hand

"Me and Kiba are, you can come with us if you want"

We make our way towards our classrooms, Issei and Kiba question him about things I already know since all the information about new students goes through the Gremory family first, he also makes some questions about us.

I ended up laughing again when he told his city's name, it's just really unusual so it's hard to keep a straight face even when you already heard about it.

In the end he seems like a nice guy, looks like I misjudged him because of his looks, but that leaves me with no clue about where that mysterious energy came from

After we part ways Kiba makes a serious expression

"Buchou, do you know what that was?"

"Sorry Kiba, but I never felt that kind of energy before"

"Should we tell the others about it?"

"I'd rather not to, we shouldn't worry them with things that might not be important, specially when we are already busy with so many really important things"

He nods

"Understood Buchou"

After that, we go to our classes

I didn't want to admit it, but in face of that energy, that is both strong and unknown, I sincerely don't know what to do.

After the attack from the Old Maou Faction, the whole town and specially this school have been reinforced against intruders, it should be impossible for any invader to come here without permission or some incredibly powerful technique that would be noted right away. If I were to say something without any proof, it would be seem as paranoia by the higher-ups.

All I can do for now is check the school for any abnormal events and hope that it was only a one time thing or mine and Kiba's minds playing tricks on us.


	5. Spying on the enemy

Once again, thanks for the reviews, I'm really glad that you are enjoying to read this story as much as I'm enjoying to write it.

* * *

 **Part 1**

I decide to follow the trio from a good distance, I can sense presences from quite far so it's no problem

They are walking towards an old building.

I can feel more presences inside. Damn, what's going on in here?

As I check the surroundings, I look up to the window of the old building and then I see that gorgeous girl with long crimson hair looking at the approaching trio, it's Rias again!

Her beauty strikes me so suddenly that I almost forget to hide behind the trees. I'm dangerously close now, if they see me, they'll know I'm spying!

Issei signs to the redhead

"Hi buchou!"

She smiles, waves back and goes inside, the trio goes into the building, it's my time to act. I check if no one followed me, and once confirmed I immediately hide my presence and walk in after them.

Woah...

The building is really neat from the inside! Did they decorate it themselves? There's no way the school provided this things.

There are voices coming from inside one of the rooms, I approach the door to hear the conversation.

"So buchou, what did you want to talk to us?" - I recognize Issei's voice

The voice of a girl who I still don't know speaks.

"...You summoned all of us so suddenly, then it must be important"

Rias starts to speak

"I had to gather everyone today, unfortunately it's not to work on our school festival project. I've received a mission involving a group of stray demons who plotted against their masters to join the Khaos Brigade, but after the defeat of Diodora, they ran away and are now hiding in this town"

"They must be a serious threat" - Kiba says

"Indeed, we believe that they may have useful information about them, so it's crucial that you capture at least one alive, that's why Rias will personally oversee this mission, right?"

A man's voice? He sounds older than the rest

"Yes, onii-sama said he needs to know if they are carrying any useful data regarding the Khaos Brigade"

I see, they are planning to hunt other demons, that's to be expected, evil existences do not respect even their equals.

But, Onii-sama? Rias has a brother? And what in the world is 'Khaos Brigade'?

I can sense the presence of 10 people inside the room, none of them are human, but each emanates a different energy.

I can recognize some: One if a full-blooded demon, must be Rias, two are fallen angels, three have half-human auras, it's Asia, Kiba and Xenovia, one is... a youkai? Really? They even have a youkai?

And three others emanate auras I never sensed before, Issei is one of them, and the other must be Rossweisse, she for some reason has the aura of a demon, but just like Issei, I know there's more to her.

And even though I know there are two fallen angels, I can also sense a difference between them, one is a pure fallen, while the other is different, just like the youkai, they emanate a different aura than what a pure youkai or a pure fallen would give out.

So in total I only know 6 out of the 10, could the dark devil that Kuriko warned me about be among them?

"Shouldn't the student council help us if it's so dangerous?" - Asia asks

The student council? They are on this with the devils too?

"Another mission has been assigned to them, we'll be on our own. It's very weird, but in the last week this town has been attracting more supernatural existences than usual" - Rias answers

Last week? Oh... I guess that's on me.

"Ara ara, Asia-chan. You think we're not up to the challenge?"

A soft girl's voice questionates, she seems to be half-joking.

"That's not it! I just..."

"Don't worry, leave it to us, we can handle it, right Asia?" - Issei interrupts

"Yes!"

Asia answers cheerfully.

"Alright, then we're good to go" Rias voice concludes

Go? They are leaving already?

What should I do?

Exorcise them? Fighting them here might be an option, there's no one but us in the building anyway, my instinct as an esper is to destroy them as soon as possible, letting them make the first move is dangerous...

No, I still don't know their powers and as long as we are inside a school there's a risk of something happening to the students or of my identity getting discovered.

Plus, I've got analyze the information I just got.

I fly out of the building as fast as possible and wait on top of a tree watching the entrance so I can see them when they leave...

But they don't

After a few minutes, their presence disappears, all of it.

There was now only one person in the building, a fallen angel.

WHAT?! HOW?! A door on the back? No, I checked the building inside and out, there was no other entrance but this one!

So...

Teleportation? Yes, that must be it!

I've learned that there are certain types of creatures that can use teleportation under certain circunstances, there are even espers that can do it.

The only one who comes out of the building is an average build man with black hair and a goatee, the fallen angel.

He passes through the tree where I'm sitted and then he stops

Did he noticed me? What should I do?

Oh, wait...

I'm not doing anything suspicious

He turns around and looks at me

I look back at him and wave

Nothing to see here, just a student slacking off in his free time

"Aren't you going home?"

Shit, he's really gonna try talking to me?

"I'm just waiting for a friend"

He nods his head with a suspicious expression, I don't think he's buying it

This man is different from the others, he has the aura of an experienced warrior, not only someone strong, but someone who has been in many battles, bullshiting him won't be easy

"You are the new student, Tatseyo Kageyama right?"

I nod

"Yes, that's me"

"I heard that you are in second year, I'm your chemistry teacher, we didn't get the chance to meet."

What? Are you kidding me? A devil as homeroom teacher and a fallen angel as my chemistry teacher?

"I see, did you want to talk to me about something?"

"No, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Azazel, hope we can get along"

What kind of name is that? Could it be that he's not even hidding his real name when living with humans?

"Azazel, like the fallen angel in the bible?"

I decide to confront him about it, he just laughs

"Hahaha, you're right! Looks like my mom and dad had some dark sense of humour"

I sit upright on the tree branch and look at him

"Is that so?"

I reply while staring right at him, this guy is on a different level than the rest, even if Issei and Rias looked strong, this guy must be just as much, if not more. He has the aura of a pure fallen angel, actually, it's one of the purest fallen auras I've ever felt or seem, that means he is not the irregular one.

He stares back, probably trying to see any signs of a killing intent.

"Yeah, is there any problem?"

I can see his aura starting to ooze out, is he threatening me? Or is this a trick to see if I'll react with my own aura? Heh, he's smart, I give him that.

But if he's experienced, so am I, and I won't fall for this so easily

I smile back and reply

"Nothing, hey, at least it's better than Lucifer, right? Hahaha!"

"Hahaha! You are right!"

He laughs along with me, maybe now I convinced him that I'm a normal student

"I'll be leaving now, but don't stay on school too late."

"Roger that, bye sensei"

He turns around and walks away, finnaly! I thought he was never going leave!

Now the building is empty.

I can use it as my chance to investigate!

I go inside and start to check things out, but there is nothing out of the ordinary in most rooms, just some weird books about religion and mystical creatures, some are written in a language I've never seen before.

I walk into the room where they were talking...

Inside there are lots of pentagrams, some that I know, some that I don't

Among the ones I don't know, there is a big one with symbols I've never seen

It's not satanism, nor any other cult or religion I've ever studied, what is this about then? Dad once told me that some evil spirits tend to use brainwashed cults to increase their power, but that doesn't seem like the case at hand, they don't seem brainwashed, actually, they seem to be the ones who are manipulating others.

I take several pictures of the pentagram, to catch it's full view and the details.

After checking the rest of the old building, I see nothing else out of the ordinary and just get out.

I sit at the same tree as before and I ponder about the information I just got...

I realize my great mistake and I facepalm thinking about it

"I didn't check for others..."

The information that the student council is also part of the inhumans got me by surprise, but if I had used my awareness I could have easily detected them...

It's getting late, so most of the students must have already gone home, even if I use my power now I won't catch all of them, so I leave it as a mission for tomorrow

"Time to go home"

 **Part** **2**

As I make my way towards the school gate, I can feel an evil energy approaching me

Oh fuck, another one?

I stand still and wait for it to get close to me

"Kageyama-kun?"

I turn around to where the voice came from, it's a girl.

"Yes, that's me"

"I'm a member of the student council, it came to our attention that neither you nor your parents were show around the school, am I correct?"

I nod my head, I never had a chance to check the school facilities before enrolling, so I know almost nothing about the place aside from what I've read.

"You are right, I was busy and so were my parents, so I never got a chance to check the place for myself"

"I was tasked with the duty of showing you the school facilities and answer any questions you may have"

She's very polite and pretty, for a devil that is, and I don't have nothing else to do, guess I could spend my time being guided around the school, after all, I still need to guide myself here.

But of course I have to keep my guard up, by the time she started approaching me I could already tell that she's a demon.

So I was right, even the Student Council is full of them

No, if they are the same as the ORC, then it would be right to say that the Student Council belongs to them.

"Yes, thanks a lot, where do we begin?"

She signs with her hand

"Come with me"

I completely hide my energy and start to follow her, I gotta be careful, this might be a trap


	6. Next steps

Part 1

I followed her through almost all buildings and facilities of the campus, this place is even bigger than it looks like!

She tells me about the time the places are open, where I can go and when. She's a real handful, for a demon that is.

When our tour ends, the sun is almost setting

"That's all Kageyama-kun, hope you'll enjoy it here!"

Turns out it wasn't a trap, in fact, I don't even think she knows I'm an esper

"Thanks for bearing with me, I'm really grateful"

"You're welcome, if you have any questions please feel free to contact the student council."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely..."

Suddenly, I remember something.

Oh no!

"Please tell me what time it is!"

She makes a confused expression and looks at her watch

"Hum? It's almost..."

This late?!

CRAP! I gotta run!

"Sorry, but I have an important appointment to attend, thanks for everything!"

I bow towards her and dash outside

Oh wait...

I dash back and ask her

"Do you know where the nearest store is?"

"Hum? There's a convenience store close to the school, you just have to turn right at the school gates, cross the street at the stop sign and follow all the way"

"Thank you!"

I run towards the store as fast as I can.

It's right there! Now I'm mentally praying

Please don't be sold out, please don't be sould out!

I go inside the store, walk to the counter and make my request as clearly as I can

"Sir, give me this month's edition of Jojolion!"

...

The cashier looks at me quizzically

"... Boy, Jojo only comes in tomorrow, what day are you in?"

What?

I look at the calendar behind him

HOLY SHIT! I got the wrong day!

"Look, come here tomorrow morning, then I might have it for you"

I'm disappointed, I honestly thought it was out today...

"S-sorry, I'll just have something to drink then..."

I leave the store and make my way home, still sad about it...

Since I was a kid, "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" is one of my favourite series.

Mom and dad never really liked it, but they were never bothered by it

The thing I always loved the most is that, despite their amazing powers, they never rely on it alone, all stand users use their intelligence and skills to make the most out of their powers and even a villain that seems harmless at the beginning can turn out to be a great threat depending on how he uses his abilities.

I'm a simple guy when it comes to battle, so I don't know if I would be able to elaborate a complicated battle strategy

I also kinda envy the protagonists, I wish I could be brave like Jonathan, smart like Joseph, cool like Jotaro, funny like Josuke or, well, you get the picture...

Ah, guess it's time to go home!

My parents rented me a small house in the 10h district, nice place, the only problem is that I have to cook for myself... and I'm not really good at that.

I wish I had a girlfriend who knew how to cook...

I start to think about the girls at school, not only the ones with Issei, but almost all the ones I saw untill now were really cute, specially Rias, the feminine voice I heard earlier in the room was also really charming, I wonder who was the girl behind it.

No, no, no! What the fuck am I even thinking? Rias is an inhuman, whoever was the owner of that voice must also be an inhuman, I can't fall in love with them!

Damn, for once in my life I wish I got lucky with girls...

You might have guessed by now, but I never had much luck with women, never had a girlfriend, not even something close to that. I already liked some girls, but never got too close. My powers are one of the things that hold me back from it.

I thing that, if I get a girlfriend, would I be able to love her properly while having to control my emotions? Knowing that if she ever gets harmed I might cause pain or even death to a lot of people?

I hope to change that someday, I think falling in love would be really enjoyable, that's a motivation that drives me to control my feelings, to fully control my 100% and maybe someday the unknow percentage.

*BZZZZ*

My cellhpone rings and I look

It's a call...

From mom!

Well... I am her son and I am in another town, so it's obvious she will keep in touch with me...

But I don't know what to tell her!

I can't ask for her help, knowing her, she'll probably get pissed and tell me to destroy the whole school and go back home

That or she will tell father and he might have an even worse reaction, he's always been very protective of me, sometimes even more than mother.

Both options are bad! I wanna live a normal highschool life for once!

If I can get the school rid of those demons then there'll be no problem, right?

I pick it up

"H-hi mom"

"Tatseyo! Hi son! How was your first day?"

Seriously, her voice is just like a child, she hasn't changed at all, anyone listening in would think that I'm speaking with my little sister rather than my mom.

Not that'll ever say it to her...

"Things are pretty calm, the school is nice and I'm really enjoying it here, what about over there?"

I'll have to lie this time, sorry mom, sorry dad, but you sent me here so I could experience a normal life for once, right?

"So calm that it's boring, it even makes me miss my heroine days, your dad was worried of you not being able to adapt though"

Heh, if he only knew...

"So long it's been fine, the teachers are good and everyone has been really nice to me"

"Good, but if anything happens don't hesitate to call us, understand?"

"OK"

"And if anything happens, remember the three Esper principles: 3SF, alright?"

I sigh

"Don't worry, it has been well screwed in my head"

"So..."

She then makes a pause as if she wants to ask something

"Mom?"

"Are there any cute girls in there?"

I nearly fall backwards at this sudden question

"W-what are you talking about?"

"C'mon! You are our son, it's your duty to spread the genes of our family! I wanted you to find a nice esper girl, like Kuriko, but you two just wouldn't get along..."

There was one time when mom tried to make me and Kuriko hook up, it didn't end nicely, just thinking about this makes me embarassed, so please spare me from the flashback!

"...Then I thought it was because you were dating that pirokinetic girl, but you two have never done anything right?"

Don't call Ayumu 'pirokinetic girl'!

"I already told you that there's nothing between us!"

"And that's unfortunate! Right now I don't even care if it's a normal girl, in the end your child would probably inherit you powers anyway, so please work hard and give me a grandchild, your father is worried too you know?"

Father too?!

"What did he said?"

"He's worried because you are not showing any interest in girls at your age, even he had a crush besides me before we met, so we are worried about your health you know?"

"My health is fine, thank you very much!"

"So what's the problem? You like girls don't you? We won't judge you if you don't but..."

This conversation just keeps getting weirder!

"I like girls, okay? It's just that I have more important things to worry about!"

"Like what? We sent you over so you could have a normal highschool life, so please act like a normal highschool boy and get a normal highschool girlfriend okay?"

What's with the 'highschool' and 'normal' repetition?!

"I-if you're just going to talk about that then I'm going to hang up!"

"Wait, Tatseyo!"

"W-what is it?"

She pauses for a moment and replies in a calmer voice.

"...Have you been eating properly? You were never a very good cook, so we are worried about it too."

I sigh, even after all this embarrassing and weird talk, she's still my mom

"Yes mom, I tried to learn a few things before moving, so I'll be alright."

"Okay, goodnight son, I love you"

"Love you too mom, say hello to father"

With that we hang up

I feel even more tired after this conversation, I'm going to take a shower, eat and go to bed.

But even while I do that I'm still thinking over the first part of my conversation with mom.

3SF

That is the number one rule that every esper obeys regarding evil supernatural activity:

Strike First, Strike Fast, Strike Fiercely

Destroy it before they cause trouble and make sure it doesn't come back

A lot of people wait untill bad things start to happen before they call an exorcist, by then it can already be too late, so that's how we are taught to deal with curses and evil beings.

Not killing those demons the moment I noticed them is already breaking the first rule, but it's an exception, when there are so many people that could be hurt by direct confrontation, then it's best to wait untill I can take them out with minimun risk.

Before going to sleep I message a friend of mine the pictures of the pentagram

He's a doctor and an esper

He is also an expert on the other world. He was one of my teachers and knows even more than mom and dad. If there is someone who can give me answers, it's him

...

I need to meditate before sleeping

Meditation is important to keep my power and emotions check

But more than just meditation, what I do is an "out of the body experience", I project my soul out of my body, this is also a thing some espers can do, being free from your physical body makes meditation much more effective

OK, now it's time to sleep

Part 2

My cellphone rings

I pick it up and check the time

It's 4:32 AM! Who the hell is it?

I look the name, it's him, the expert I contacted

I decide to answer the call, it might be important

"Edmond, do you know what time it is here in Japan?"

An haitian accent answers me on the other side of the phone

"Yes, and I'm sorry, but about the pentagrams you messaged me..."

His voice... is he nervous?

"What about it?"

"Well, you see, it's not a cult nor a religious one, it's a devil's clan pentagram."

"Clan? What's this?"

"Son, you don't know what a clan is?"

I always fought against demons, ghosts, evil spirits and youkais and I never knew they had this sort of organization

"No, could you enlight me?"

"You see, these types of pentagrams can only be used by members of a same family or by the ones who are commited with the clan."

Only those commited to a demon clan right? So that's why the man with a goatee didn't used it! Because he's a fallen angel he can't use a devil's pentagram!

Edmond continues

"Demons like that are very dangerous, not only they have their own hierarchy and specialities, many of them are survivours of the spiritual wars"

The spiritual wars, I already heard about that

Demons, Angels and Fallen Angels fighting for control.

So Edmond believes in that? I always thought it was just a legend the church made up.

"Do you know which clan this crest belongs to?"

Edmond makes a pause

"I'm a bit rusty, but I believe this is the Gremory's seal"

Gremory? As in 'Rias Gremory'?

FUCK! First Azazel and now this? It's like they are not even making an effort to hide themselves, like they are taunting us!

"Kageyama? Are you still there?"

"Yes, listen, have you ever fought against these types of demons?"

"No, it is not my place to interfere, this war means nothing to espers, it's a war among the inhumans and if you didn't know about it then you are better like this, it doesn't concern us"

"So, do you think I can handle them?"

"Considering you are your parents son, I think you can stand up to them, but if you want an even better advice then listen: As I said, this war means nothing to us espers, let the church handle these types of inhumans, it's a war of the other world, we should focus on protecting our world"

Again, someone mentions my parents, that's nothing new to me, but what surprises me is the "advice" he just gave me.

This is one of the few times I disagree with Edmond, if these devils are on the school, living among regular humans, doesn't that make them a threat already? Is there something he's hiding from me?

"I take it you haven't told them about what happened?"

I shake my head

"No, it would just worry them, please don't tell them"

"I will not, but I urge you to be careful"

"I understand, but I think I have to go deeper into this, don't worry, I'll be careful."

"If that's what you wish..."

It seems like he's ready to hang up, but I still got another question

"Hey Edmond, another thing, I've already seen humans who became possessed by demons and some hibrid youkais, but can another creature be turned into a demon without possession or hibrid procreation?"

"It's possible, if they make a pact or are transformed by some method or curse..."

Curse?

"And that would make them stronger than a normal demon?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the kind of the creature, their talent, innate powers and some can even get stronger through sheer training or going through probations"

"How much stronger?"

The strength hiden within Issei was no joke, I've never sensed that kind of energy.

"Tatseyo, is there something you want to tell me?"

I don't want to make Edmond worried, he already doesn't seem very approval about my intentions of proceeding with this investigation

"No, nothing, it's okay, thanks for the update"

"You're welcome Kageyama child, goodnight"

"Oh, and Edmond..."

"What is it"?

"Please, unless someone is dying, don't ever wake me up like that again"

"I apologize, but the situation seemed urgent..."

"No worries, goodnight"

"Goodnight, and remember: No matter what happens, don't stray away from your morals, no matter how desperate the situation, do not go for the dark arts."

I turn my head to look at the cabinet, inside of my case, along with several other things, there is a set of artifacts I sworn to never use.

"Don't worry, even if things run bad I would never use it, goodnight"

I hang up and I'm left with my thoughts again, what am I gonna do?

If I happen to exorcise a lot of people from the school, that would bring attention. I'll have to be careful, give them no room to react, this has to be done for before they even realize what happened.

Another thing that's been bothering me is that I've never seem demons so human-looking, it's my first time dealing with a situation like this

Edmond seems to be hiding something from me, could it be that this "otherworld war" is not actually a legend?

That brings me another question: Are they total inhumans? Edmond just confirmed that people and other youkai can be turned into demons, but I have to confirm if that's the case before taking action

If they are just posessed and I could exorcise them without hurting anyone, it would be the best

Father always told me to never use my powers against people, mom hated that, she always said I was special, that the only way to survive in this world is to be strong, but I don't like the thought of hurting people who are weaker than me.

I take a deep breath and lay on my bed, drifting back to sleep

Part 3

I wake up and procceed with my daily ritual, as I'm dressing myself, I remember Edmond's words

'Do not go for the dark arts'

The dark arts... also know as curses

I go to one of my suitcases, the only one who has been closed since I arrived, and open it

Inside there are several books about curses as well as artifacts that can be used to lay or remove them.

We espers have the power to destroy evil spirits and curses, but we also have the power to create them.

Cursing is a taboo among espers, it is something that is frowned upon and if you are discovered using it, you'll be seen as someone evil.

Most of this rejection is actually the fault of one man, a very talented esper who was consumed by darkness because of the curse path.

Why do I keep things like that close to me? Well, because I also studied about curses. To be able to remove something you have to know how it works, I would never lay a curse on someone, but understanding it's mechanisms is essential for espers.

The first thing I did when I arrived at this house was hang seals against demons on every floor, since I arrived in this town I had the feeling that something was off, like this town had some sort of protection against the outside, but it was only after yesterday that I realized it was the school's fault, that's how I know it is the center of the demon activity here, I have to make sure this house is protected against demons.

I close the suitcase

Thinking about this is no good, I have to get ready to school.

As I'm about to leave, I look in the mirror...

I really do look a bit like dad

My white skin, black hair, dark eyes, they resemble my father when he was around my age, the only major difference is that I'm some inches taller, cut my hair in a different fashion and of course, my face and eyes.

...I wish I had mom's green eyes, they are very pretty. Would I look less intimidating?

I shrug these thoughts out of my head, I have more important things to focus on right now. I grab the backpack and make my way to school, the weather is rather nice today...

Today, the first think I do is pass by the store and buy the newest edition of Jojolion, this month's cover is amazing! Thank you, Araki-sensei!

Unfortunately, I don't have time to read it on my way to school, ah, I want to cry...

As soon as I arrive at school, I take a picture of the campus map

OK, let's do it

I can extend my awareness up to a radius of several kilometers around me, that's more than enough to feel the presences within the school

"Sensei, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure Kageyama-kun"

I go to the bathroom, get into the last cabin, and open the school map

(CLAIRSETIENCE)

An ability designed to sense the presences of anything and anyone based on their energies and flux of their aura.

...

Holy shit!

There are a lot!

There are many more than the 10 of the club room, with different types of energy too. This is gonna be harder than I thought.

I mark all the places where I can feel their presence: The school, the old building, the student council, the running tracks and more

Is it really okay to get rid of them? Wouldn't it be too suspicious if they just disappear?

No, I already said this before, I'll eliminate them before they have the chance to react, the other students might suspect, but it'll leave no clues.

That's to protect this school, the students and this town.

Now to make another test, on lunchtime

This one will be different, this time... I'm going to hurt one of them.

* * *

Afterword: Alright, another chapter done, let me know what you think. Since Issei is a fan of Dragon Ball, I wanted to make Tatseyo a fan of a shonen manga as well, so I decided to use JJBA. I'll be making more references to it in the future, but I think that even if you haven't watched it, you'll understand. Also, if you guys have been around Youtube lately you probably know where I got my inspiration for 3SF.


	7. At the crosshairs

"So, Rias, what did you called me here for?"

My black haired childhood friend says it as she sips the tea I've prepared, I don't want to discuss this with the other club members, but since Sona is a high-class devil like me and also holds responsability towards this school, I find myself in the duty of warning her.

"Sona, have you felt an strange presence in the campus lately?"

Sona closes her eyes for a moment and puts the tea on the table

"I see, so you also felt it?"

I sigh, so it was not a trick, Sona has also noticed it.

"Have you discussed it with your peerage?"

She shakes her head

"Too risky, the way things are now, without any evidence it would be dismissed as paranoia of our part, we can't allow ourselves to lose face because of something like this"

I nod

"So we thought the same thing..."

Sona adjusts her glasses

"I think we have bigger concerns, after all, aside from that unexplainable pressure from yesterday, nothing has happened to damage the reinforcements in this town."

"By bigger concerns you mean..."

She completes my phrase

"The Hero Faction"

After the defeat of the Old Maou faction, they have stepped up as Khaos Brigade's leading team.

"So far they haven't attacked our town, but there have been reports of attacks in other territories, it seems they are trying to make their members attain Balance Breaker by fighting other Sacred Gear users, that means we'll probably going to be targeted soon"

"I see, they are a far greater threat then. But I still urge you to keep an eye on any suspicious activity, Kiba and Koneko are the only ones in my peerage who know about it, we are trying our best to tell where it came from"

Koneko was not with me and Kiba when it first happened, but it seems her Senjutsu has become sensitive enough for her to notice it. She complained about it to me so I told her about the situation me and Kiba faced in the main hall, asked her to keep it a secret and report if she sensed anything again.

"I understand, on my side only Tsubaki was able to notice it. We are also keeping it a secret from the others while trying to trace where it came from"

Shinra-san comes from a clan that hunts evil spirits and she has a connection with their world, no wonder she could also feel it

"We decided that we have far more important things to worry about, also, if it's inside the school, at least we can act right away if something happens"

She is right, me and the ORC have to think about the trip to Kyoto, the school festival, the match against Sairaorg and not to mention the threat of the Hero Faction attacking at anytime, worrying about this is futile.

I had already thought about all of this before, but hearing this from Sona, who is a trusted friend of mine reassures me somehow

I take a sip of my own tea

"Thanks Sona, I feel more at ease now."

She smiles

"Anytime, I'm always here to help you Rias, also it would be bad if you ran out of energy before I can have my revenge for the last rating game"

I laugh

"Focus on your match against Seekvairas for now, I'm sure we'll be having our rematch sometime in the future"

"I'm looking forward to it"

We both giggle at each other's provocation

Yes, to reach our dreams we must prove our strength to the underworld, it makes little sense to worry about what we cannot reach for now.

*Drip Drip*

As I was thinking this, I see a few drops of Sona's tea falling to the ground

When I look at her I notice the reason, her hands are shaking and she has a terrified look on her face!

"Sona? What happened?"

"Rias..."

She gulps down before continuing

"You can't... feel it?"

"Feel?"

A shiver runs down my spine before I can answer her

"What is this?"

The sensation of being watched

Like someone is aiming at us

A bad premonition?

"You felt that too?"

"Y-yes, do you think it was..."

"The same thing as before? I have no idea, but..."

She stands up

"I'll go check the student council, you should also check on the ORC members"

"Yes, let's go for now"

Me and Sona leave in different directions

Please, don't let anything bad happen to them!

* * *

I rush towards the area where they usually have lunch

...

Thank goodness! They are all fine!

I breath out in relieve

Issei and the others are eating and chatting, he sees me and waves

"Buchou, did you came to have lunch with us?"

I mask my worries with a smile, I want to warn them about the situation right now, but I don't know who might be listening.

When we gather at the club we'll discuss this further

But right now, I'll enjoy having lunch with my precious servants

Later I've heard from Sona that the Student Council was also fine when she met them, this time it was only the two of us who had that bad feeling, Shinra, Koneko and everyone else didn't seem to notice

I don't know what this is, but we are definitely going to find it out.

For this school, for this town and for our future.


	8. The last test on the demons

**Beforeword** : I'm sorry if I'm dragging the story too much, I realized now that this is the sixth chapter and so far no battles have occurred at all. I just wanted to focus on building Tatseyo's character and how he investigates the world of DxD. But don't worry, this and 6-1 will be the last before the battle, look forward for chapter 7.  
Also, I would like to ask that if you are going to give me a suggestion for the story, please give some way of contacting you, I honestly like to discuss what I write with the readers.

 **Part 1**

I eat my lunch at a quiet area, keeping an eye on Issei and the ones surrounding him, I can't make my move with so many people around, I would be found out for sure.

It was on Rias that I wanted to try it on first, being a full blooded demoness and the leader, she is probably the one I should aim for, but exactly because she's the leader, approaching her right away might be dangerous.

So I decided to go for Issei, the massive energy he hides makes him the second best target, I just gotta wait until they part ways.

But there's something bothering me...

Namely, the trio looking at me

A group of two guys and one girl who I recognize from class is standing a few meters behind me, they approached a few minutes ago but didn't said a single word to me and are just standing there whispering to each other for a while, they probably think I don't know they are here and even though there's nothing wrong with them, this is starting to bother me.

Tired of waiting, I stand up and turn back to look at them

"Oi, you guys want something?"

The three jump back at my remark

Oh yeah, I gotta remember that people in the school are still afraid of me.

I lift a hand and apologize

"Sorry, didn't meant to scare you all, did you want to talk to me?"

The two boys exchange glances as if deciding who would speak first and the girl steps up between them

"Ka-Kageyama-kun, right?"

She says lifting a lunch box and asking

"Would you like to e-eat with us?"

I stay silent for a moment, not believing what I just heard

They want me to sit with them? Seriously?! For real!?

I never made friends so easily! But right now I'm investigating!

Aghhh, what should I do? There's gotta be a way!

I look around and I see a bench where I can keep my eyes on the devils and still eat with them, sweet!

"Y-yes! But could we please eat over there?"

They look at the place where I just pointed and answer

"Fine by us!"

We go to the bench and start eating and chatting, to be honest, I barely say anything since I'm busy watching the demons, but apparently the three were born in this town and all of them are involved with some club activity. They told me their names were Kanae, Eizo and Koji

"How is Seasoning city like Kageyama-kun?" - Kanae asks

"A pretty standard city, I think the only major difference between there and here is the amount of schools"

And the amount of Espers, but I think it's better not to talk about it with them.

"Nice, I'm really looking forward to our trip to Kyoto! " - Eizo says

"You never left the country, right?"

Koji questions his friend

"No, what about you, Kageyama?"

I nod my head

"Yeah, I've travelled to a few countries, but I only stayed in there for a week or two"

His eyes go wide and he hunches towards me

"Woah! Even so it's amazing! Is your familiy rich or something?"

Kanae pinches his cheek

"Hey, don't you know it's rude to ask about someone's wealth?"

"Ouch, dis hurds, led go!"

She then lets go off Eizo's cheek, I wouldn't mind telling them that my family is wealthy, it's not a state secret.

"Sorry Kageyama-kun, I didn't mean to offend... huh? Kageyama-kun?"

He finally notices my staring towards the devil's group

"Oi Kageyama-kun, are you staring at Rias-senpai? Careful, there are lots of boys AND girls who will hate anyone who makes a move on her!"

I cough my juice at his remark, why does he thing I was looking as Rias specifically!?

"Idiot! I wasn't looking just at Rias!"

"But that means you were watching them, right?"

Kanae caught me and she looks at me with an impish smile

"Y-yes, I was just thinking about how they seem so familiar with each other"

Not really, I already know what makes them so familiar, but I have to give an excuse

"Well, can't blame you, they sure are an odd crew"

"The only thing odd for me is that Issei guy, how does he manage to get along with the popular group being such a human trash?"

"Huh? Popular?"

Now they lost me, I know Kiba and Rias are because of what happened when I first arrived, but are all the others besides Issei considered "popular" too?

"Why are they popular?"

The trio looks at me, Eizo is the first to answer

"Well, Rias is one of the two great Onee-samas of this school together with Akeno-senpai, she is beautiful, smart, athletic, rich, basically the dream girlfriend of any boy, and of some girls as well..."

Kanae proceeds

"Kiba Yuuto is the school's prince, since he arrived all the girls at school have a crush on him, he's smart, handsome, talented, cool, well, you get it"

Koji keeps going

"Koneko Toujou, the white haired girl, and Asia, the blonde one, are like the school's mascots, they are cute, pretty and adorable. Asia came in after Koneko, but her blonde bishoujo type soon won everybody's hearts"

The girl then continues

"There is also Xenovia and Irina, they are the most recent additions to the school, Xenovia got popular because she's really good at sports, almost every club wants her to join in, her looks also helped on it though, and Irina got popular because of her excentric personality, she has the tittle of "cute but weird" girl"

Wow, that was quite an explanation, but...

"And what about Issei?"

When I first arrived I already knew he wasn't liked, insults were directed to him almost as much as praises were directed to Rias and Kiba, but the reason was never very clear to me

At the mention of his name, their faces seem filled with anger. Kanae is the first to speak

"He's the worst! He is a member of the school's perverted trio together with that jerk Matsuda and that creep Motohama! Those three often are caught trying to spy on girls or even reading lewd magazines in the middle of class!"

It sounds like she's cursing him, Eizo continues

"Yeah! And there is rumour going on that he's forcing the girls of the ORC to make lewd things by blackmaling and threatening them! Even poor Asia and Koneko didn't scape that creep's lust!"

Wait, wait, is that actually truth? I share the same classroom as them and aside from the porn mags I haven't seem anything resembling what they are saying

"That's a pretty serious accusation! Is there any proof of that?"

Koji then speaks, at this point he's pratically shouting

"Who cares! Just him being close to them is already a threat to their well being!"

Well, guess I already know what I have to know about them

There's just one more thing...

"But what about you three? How do you feel about the popular group?

I already know that they hate Issei, but they only told me the history of the popular group, not how they feel towards them

They confusedly look at each other and Koji answers

"W-well, we like them, we don't idolize them like almost everyone, but I think they are ok."

"Yeah, we would like to get closer to them, but it's not like we have a chance" - Kanae says while forcing a smile

It seems a normal answer, but even so I have to try something...

[ANNULATION]

By using psychic powers I can annulate any kind of suggestion, hypnosis or brainwashing imposed on someone.

After using it, I ask again

"That is how you really feel about them?"

They look at each other and nod

"Yup, pretty much, aside from Issei, there's no real reason to dislike them"

Well, guess that settles it, the humans on this school are not brainwashed, they are just being tricked by the demons.

"You know Kageyama-kun, since you came in you have gained a bit of a fame as well..."

Eizo says scratching his cheek

"Really?! What fame?"

I never had fame in a school, maybe I can become popular too?

"W-well, since you came in people think that you are..."

"That I am?"

C'mon, I wanna know!

Kanae completes the boys phrase

"...A deliquent"

...

WHAT?!

"How? W-Why? What have I done?"

Deliquent? Already?! I knew this could happen because of my face, but so soon?

"It's because of your expression and your gaze I think. Everybody says that you have the face of someone who's plotting something all the time, there were also two students who said that you glared at them with some real killing intent when you got inside the classroom"

"Yeah, we had to work quite a lot of courage to invite you to eat with us..."

What?! So the boys who I stared at my first day got that scared of me? Shit! My chance to be popular just blew out of the water.

Even though I know that the first part is my fault, since I really am plotting about what to do with the demons at this school, this news still makes me want to cry! I guess a normal life is truly impossible.

"Uahhhh, why? What have I done?"

I say as I cover my face with my hands

"There, there, we'll try do dismiss the rumours, okay? Please cheer up."

Kanae says as she pets my head

Thank you, but I still feel like crying!

 **Part 2**

Before the bell announcing the end of our break rings, I say goodbye to the trio of my newly made friends and follow towards Issei

Unfortunately, he makes his way back with Asia and Xenovia, so I have to find a way to separate them.

What can I do?

I scroll around the area for something that I can use untill a glimpse from the window catches my attention

I have an idea!

Right from where I stand I can see one of the school's deposits from the corridor's window.

I use telekinesis to burst the doors open and throw the materials outside the shed

There's my excuse!

I run towards them and call their attention

"Hey, Hyoudou-kun! Could you help me arrange the things in the deposit? Someone did a real mess over there"

Xenovia and Asia turn back, they wide their eyes in surprise

"Ka-Kageyama-san?" - Asia says

"Huh, the new student? What do you want with Ise?"

Xenovia asks suspiciously

"I want his help to arrange the deposit, I was told to call him too"

Issei steps forward

"Oh, it's okay, I can help"

But at this moment, Xenovia jumps between me and her friends

"I don't trust you! Tell me Ise, have you done anything to make him mad?"

"Eh, Xenovia-san?"

We are all confused at her reaction, did she found out that I'm planning something?

"You are a deliquent aren't you? They warned me about you"

I'm completely speechless at the scene, warned her? It's not even my third day here and things are already this bad?!

"Xenovia-san, you're exaggerating, it's just rumours..."

Issei tries to dismiss her accusations, but Xenovia shakes her head and glares at me

"You trust people too much Ise. I've heard it from Irina, the Yakuza has recruits like him in highschools around the country, if someone as much as look at them wrong they'll hold a grudge of death against them!"

Yakuza?! You serious?

"Xenovia! I don't think Irina was talking about Kageyama-kun, we don't even have gangs in Kuoh town!"

She then points at me, she's completely ignoring what they are saying!

"Eh? Me?"

"You! I don't know what Issei might have done to you, but I... I..."

She then opens open her arms as if shielding Issei and Asia

"But I'll take you on! No matter what you wanna do to them, I'll take it! So come at me if you must!"

"Are you stupid?!"

This words escape my mouth, I can't help it, she's being absurd!

"Curse me if you want! I'll take it all!"

I facepalm, maybe this wasn't a good plan...

Just as I was thinking of leaving, Issei and Asia intervene

"Xenovia, it's alright, me, Rias and Kiba spoke to Tatseyo in his first day, he's not dangerous at all"

"I also trust Tatseyo-san, c'mon Xenovia"

Asia also insists while pulling Xenovia by her shirt

"Ah, wait, Asia!"

"See you later, Ise-san, Kageyama-san"

Asia waves to us as they both disappear into the hallway

Issei sighs

"I'm sorry about Xenovia, she's not a bad person, but she's still adapting to this country and she's quick to believe in things"

I scratch my head

"I-I see..."

That was close, for a moment I believed she had seen through me

"So... let's go to the shed before class starts"

I quickly shake my head trying to stay on focus

"Oh, yeah, let's go"

We walk for a few minutes without saying anything but just as we are halfway, Issei asks me

"So Kageyama-kun, are you liking Kuoh academy?"

I nod

"It's a good place, not that I ever went to other schools for comparison though"

"You were home-schooled through all of middle education right?"

"Yeah, my parents thought it would be better..."

He makes a troubled expression

"I'm sorry that your highschool experience has to be like this, rumours can be really nasty, trust me, I know."

I give a quick laugh

"I heard yours too, it ain't easy right? Shouldn't you take easy on the lewd stuff if you don't like it?"

Issei merely sighs

"Well, it's not like I actually care, I am a pervert after all!"

He says it sou proudly! Maybe my friends from earlier were right, but it's still wrong to call him human trash, after all, he is a demon, so this kind of behaviour should be expected.

Issei keeps talking with a somewhat worried tone

"But your case is different right? I'm used to being called a pervert, and it's not like that's a lie, but you are not actually a deliquent isn't it? There are people who are outright afraid of you, doesn't it bother you?"

I shake my head

"Don't worry, I'm used to it, things will calm down eventually... I hope"

I already traveled to many countries and met different people, so I'm used to people thinking that I'm a deliquent based on my looks, it's a piece of crap, but eventualy they get used to it, I hope it'll be the same here.

He seems happy again

"Alright, if you say so"

"I'm fine, trust me, by they way, thanks for helping out a new-guy"

He geniunely seems concerned with my well being. Xenovia also seemed concerned with her friend's safety, demons can really be deceiving can't they?

"No problem"

As he says that, I notice we are finally out of anyone's sight

Sorry Issei, you should have listened to Xenovia.

NOW!

I use my powers on his body and paralyze him on the spot

"W-what?" - Issei asks as he looks down unable to move himself

Before he can react any further, I approach him and with my hand enveloped in aura I hit his chest

The pressure increases and blood gushes from his mouth as his eyes wide in shock

Suddenly his bat wings pop out, his left hand starts shinning and a big, red gaunlet shows up.

So that's his true form...

I leave him be, he falls on his knees, too hurt to even scream for help, his wings retract as he loses consciousness, but the gauntlet arm does not disappear

So he's not possesed, that's his true nature

I will send him to the otherworld, but not now, they would become suspicious of me if I was the last person to see him alive, the other students in this school still believe they are regular teenagers and it's better if they believe in that to the end.

Deciding to keep the facade, I call for help while dragging Issei towards the infirmary.

It only takes a while before I hear steps coming towards us, but it's not good, it's another demon!

I hide my aura and wait for it to approach

The footsteps draw closer and I'm left speechless

...

Answering to my calls comes a girl of outstanding beauty!

I stop dragging Issei and stare mesmerized at her.

Her long black hair wraped in a ponytail, her white skin, beautiful face, well endowed body and curves just steal all of my attention, she is at least on the same level of beauty as Rias!

The girl does not say a word at first, looking at me and then at Issei

However, as realization hits her, a worried expression appears on her face and she runs towards me, or rather, towards Issei.

"Issei! Who are you? What have you done do him?!"

I lift my hands up

"Woah, calm down! Someone messed up one of the sheds and he was going to help me clean it, but suddenly he had a breakdown and got like this, I haven't done anything"

She takes his now mecha like hand and tries to hide while helping me to carry him. I feel a nervous energy coming from her.

"S-sorry, here, I'll help you with him"

This girl has the energy of a fallen angel and a demon, fuck, will all this beauties in this school turn out to be inhumans?

Anyway, I gotta be polite for now

"Thanks, let's take him to the infirmary"

However, she seems displeased at the idea and quickly dimisses it

"No! The music room is better"

Music room? It must be empty at this time

Oh, I get it, no one can see his hand in this state, right?

I reluctantly agree and we take him to the music classroom, it was empty as expected, she puts him on the ground and holds his deformed hand on her own.

"Thanks for the help, but you can leave now, he's not in danger"

I look at her for a moment deciding on what to do untill-

Wait a minute...

Now that she calmed down I can recognize it!

SHE IS THE GIRL WITH THE SOFT VOICE!

The one in the ORC! Damn it, that place and the student council really are the center of the demonic activity of this school

Anyway, I can't back down now, I gotta see what she'll do. I put my best worried face and retort

"No way, I won't leave untill I can confirm he's fine"

She sighs

"Okay, we don't have time for this, just don't freak out"

What's she going to do?

She puts one of his fingers in her mouth and it starts to emanate a green glown and suddenly Issei's hand goes back to normal

So she can absorb energy? That's a dangerous power, strong espers can also absorb and release energy, if she can do that as well then I got to be warry of her too.

She stands up and walks towards me

"He's going to be fine, thank you and sorry for getting mad"

I shake my head

"Don't worry, I would get mad too if it happened to one my friends. By the way, my name is Tatseyo Kageyama, I'm a new student from the second year"

She gracefully bows towards me

"Pleased, I'm Akeno Himejima, third year"

Himejima-senpai... so she's the other great Onee-sama of this school, huh?

After her quick introduction, the black haired girl gets closer

"You seem like a nice person, too bad you won't remember most of it"

What?

She looks deeply into my eyes and a red glow briefly sparkles through hers

...

But nothing happens

She smiles at me.

"Ara ara, you should be going then"

I tilt my head confused

"Going? But what about Issei? Are you sure we shouldn't take him to the infirmary?"

Her smile drops and she looks at me with a shocked expression

"W-what? Do you still remember?"

"Remember? Of course I..."

Wait, she wants me to forget what I saw? Could it be...

She comes forward and grabs my shoulders

Her proximity makes my face go red, is she going to kiss me?!

However, she stops just a few inches from my face with her eyes locked with mine.

She smells so good... wait, that's not the time for it!

Her eyes turn red again, this time for a longer while.

I move to push her away, but she releases her grip on my shoulders before I can do anything

Akeno looks at me and smiles sweetly again.

"Ara ara~, I hope you are not dizzy now~"

Dizzy? What is she talking about? She wants to hypnotize me or something? That won't work on espers, but she doesn't know that I'm one.

She seems worried again

"It worked right? Do you remember something?"

She takes a step forward in my direction

What I'm gonna do? Whatever she's trying to do won't work, at this rate she'll figure it out, what I'm gonna do?

She takes another step

I'm getting nervous

Should I kill them?

Yes, killing them might be the answer, if they both disappear together I won't be a suspect since no one knows Akeno is with me!

Issei is already down, all I would have to do is take care of her.

I let my killing intent start to ooze

"Ka-Kageyama-kun?"

As I'm in midway of lifting my hand voices come from the hallway

"Man, it's such a beautiful day outside, maybe I should skip class today"

"Shut up, we already have too many absences!"

Other students, shit, I can't do it with people around!

I decide to retreat for now

"Man, my head hurts"

I take a hand to my forehead pretending it's in pain.

"I'm going to class now, see you later Himejima-senpai"

Her smile returns and she waves at me

Damnit, she's so beautiful.

"Goodbye, Kageyama-kun"

The last thing I see in the room is Akeno walking up to Issei, she seems worried. It doesn't seem like she was pretending

Demons get sad for their companions? I've never seen that, for me all of them were beasts who couldn't find peace

I've never seem demons and spirits actually caring for each other, what are they?

...

Great, now I'm late for class...

 **Part 3**

I get in the classroom, say my excuses and sit down

Issei comes in a few minutes later, says that he was in the infirmary

Liar...

Then he shows a note of the nurse

So Akeno did take him there after all, huh? What a nice girl...

No, no, no, no, stop with that! She's a demon!

Issei looks at me as he makes the way to his seat

"Hey man, you know what happened with me?"

I give him a worried look

"No, you freaked me out, you suddenly started to sweat and cough blood, I thought you were a goner back there"

"I don't know what happened I felt sick all of sudden..."

"You don't have any condition or something like that?"

"Not that I know of... By the way, Akeno-san told me you helped me out to the infirmary, thanks a lot"

"No problem, but hey, you owe me one, I had to clean that shed all by myself!"

Using telekinesis made it a 5 seconds job, but you don't have to know that

"Give me a break, I was sick! Hahahaha"

"No way!"

He seems a nice person, too bad he's a demon, for all I know this is a facade.

 **Part 4**

I get home before the sun sets and as I seat on my bed I rethink my plans, step by step

Issei will go first, his hiden strength might prove to be a problem if I'm going to take them all out alone. For what I've seen he still can be exorcised like any demon, though his power might make me have to get close to him for that. Then I'll go after the "Occult research club", it seems that everyone in there is a fallen angel, demon or youkai, so there shouldn't be any problem, later I'll go after the student council and any other groups as quick as possible, the demons in this school seem to be gathered in groups so that might make my job easier

It'll be only a matter of exorcising them.

No problem, I've already dealt with more enemies at once without breaking a sweat

Yeah, I just got think about this as just another job

My cellphone rings

Could it be mom again?

I look at the screen and a smile immediately draws on my face as I pick it up

"Hello Ayumu"

An energetic girl's voice greets me

"Tachan~! How are things going in there?"

For some reason listening to familiar voices makes me calmer

"Things are going fine, I actually made some friends today"

"Oh, getting over me already?"

She says in a mocking voice, ah, talks like that make me miss home.

"As if! I'm really missing being with you all"

"Me too Tachan, I really... miss you"

She sounds... embarassed?

"Are you alright Ayumu?"

"Y-yes! Sorry about it! I'm glad you made friends so quickly, but Tachan... is everything alright?"

I pause for a moment

"W-what do you mean?"

"You know Tachan, you are different, your voice is different and you seem tense. Did something happened over there?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, am I really that different?"

She sighs

"I don't know, Tachan, we've been together for a long time, I just feel these things."

She noticed it?! Damn it, should I lie to Ayumu?

I don't want to, I lied to mom and dad because they'll cause a ruckus if they know about it, but maybe it's safe to talk about it with her?

"Actually Ayumu... there's something I want to tell you, but you can't tell anyone else about it"

"Tachan? What is it? Is something bad going on?" - She asks in a very nervous tone

I go ahead and tell her everything that happened, about the demons, my investigation, the talk with Edmond and mom, everything from the first day untill now.

At the end of it, Ayumu stay silent for a moment, before replying almost as if she didn't believe me

"T-Tachan, that's very serious!"

"I know, I didn't told mom because she would probably freak out over it, so please don't tell her."

"I understand, lady Tatsumaki would be pissed at it! But are you sure you can deal with it all alone? You know I could go over there!"

"Come over?"

I ask confused

"Yeah, you know Tachan, I'll get a break from training soon and if there's something happening in there it could a great opportunity to..."

She hesitates for a while

"Ayumu?"

"To, you know... visit you"

"Visit? You mean comming over to this town?"

"Yeah! When they told me you would be moving to another town to have a normal highschool life I was so jealous! I wanted to go visit you so bad, maybe I can use this as an excuse!"

She seems really excited, I understand Ayumu, just like she never had a normal school life, although her circunstances are a bit different from my own.

I also want to see her, because as much as I like it here, being the only esper would end up feeling lonely eventually.

But this is the kind of situation that I have to think through

"Actually Ayumu, I would rather if you stayed over there"

"Eh? Why?"

"You are currently the only one besides me who knows about the situation, if something bad happens I would like to have someone I trust to alert the others."

She replies in a worried voice

"You make it sound like it's seriously bad..."

"Hahaha, did I? Sorry, sorry, you shouldn't worry about it, this just different from what I'm used to deal with. Look, I'll deal with this situation as soon as possible so you can come over alright?"

She answers in a much more cheerful voice

"Alright! But be careful okay?"

"I will, you can even start packing now"

"Hahahaha, cocky! Okay, I'll do it, so you better deal with it soon!"

"No problem! And Ayumu..."

"What is it?"

"Thanks for insisting for me to talk, I feel much better now"

"No problem Tachan, I knew there was something wrong, after all, I know you better anyone, hehe~"

...

After that we both stay silent for a moment, talking with her has really helped me ease my mind

"Uhm... Tachan?"

Oh yeah, staying here without saying anything is weird

"Sorry, we have to hang up now right?"

"Y-yeah..."

Her tone is kind of sad now, but I understand, I also wanted to talk more to her

"Don't sound so sad! We'll talk later and soon you'll be here, alright?"

"Alright! We'll talk later then, work hard so I can be there soon! Bye Tachan~~"

"Leave it to me! See you later Ayumu"

We hang up and I lay on my bed, drifting into the calmest sleep I've had since I arrived in this town

But I should know better... calm times don't last long

 **Part 5**

I wake up, something's not right

What is this? I can feel a presence less than a mile away from my house

Yes, that's it, a demon, a really evil one

It's coming towards me

When I heard the demons of the ORC saying that the supernatural activity in this town increased I knew it was because of me.

Just like stand users attract other stand users, espers tend to attract other supernatural beings.

So that'll be my warm up huh?

The one I sense is quite strong, this will be fun

I put my robe and mask, can't run the risk of being recognized right now

Then jump out of the window and dash towards the presence

Usually I would wait for it to come to me, but I'm aching for a fight right now

I wonder why...

...Yes, it's probably because of these new demons

I only realized it now, but chasing after them has awakened a stronger will to fight inside of me...

Not only that, but I'm also learning new things about the other world.

After years of fighting evil spirits, monsters and demons, I'm starting to feel something new after meeting Rias and her friends.

Less than a minute later I find it, in the middle of the street with no one else around

It's grotesque and it's not alone

This is going to be a good practice for the real battle


	9. Concern in the ORC

Buchou told us to gather at the club today, but strangely enough, the only ones who haven't arrived yet are her and Akeno-san

"I wonder why they are taking so long"

I voice my concern as I lay against the wall

"Rias looked really worried when she told me to call everyone, it's making me nervous"

Irina answers, she was the one who called me and the others, apparently Buchou felt something strange was happening

The door opens, Rias and Akeno-san walk in

Buchou looks at me, she seems worried

"Ise!"

She then runs to me and hugs me!

Uhaaa! She's so soft! I can feel her oppai being pushed against my chest! I'm awkward if it's in front of everyone, but it's so goooood!

"Bu-buchou, what is this for?"

"Akeno told me what happened this morning, I got so worried, did someone attacked you?"

I see, she's worried about me, sorry for making you worry, buchou!

"No, no one at all, I'm totally fine now, see?"

I make a few jumps to show that I'm ok

Buchou doesn't seen convinced

"Your dragon arm appeared right? The transformation should have lasted for at least a few more hours, so we know it wasn't normal, are you sure nothing interfered with your demonic power or with Ddraig?"

I know it was really weird, I felt a surge of pain like I've never felt before, like something was imploding within my body, I couldn't move, not even scream, but aside from that everything is a blur...

"No, for some reason I can't remember anything after the shock, what about you Ddraig?"

[I can only see and hear what you see and hear, so I don't know much more than you, but partner, are you sure it was nothing? What about the kid that was with you?]

Ddraig speaks with us, is he talking about Kageyama? But there's no way, Kageyama can't have done it, I know I'm not as good as the others at feeling energies, but I didn't felt a single thing from him.

Buchou speaks again

"Actually, Akeno, you said the new transfered student saw Issei's sacred gear?"

They are talking about Kageyama-kun

"Yes, Tatseyo Kageyama was his name, he helped me to take Issei to a safe place to perform the energy absortion"

Eehhhh? Akeno-san sucked my power while I was unconscious? No way! I really look forward to have my power sucked out by Buchou and Akeno-san you know?! I can't believe I wasn't awake to enjoy it!

"And you said that something weird happened?"

"Yes, when I tried to erase his memories for the first time, it seemed like it didn't work, and in the second time, well, he acted really weird"

They are talking about the devil's power of manipulating human minds and erasing memories, Buchou once used it on mom and dad, they acted really weird back then, could Kageyama-kun have acted even weirder?

"Weird how?"

Buchou asks, now I'm curious about it too.

"Well, he said his head was hurting even though it wasn't supposed to, but was acting very normally for someone who had their memories erased"

Everyone in the room seems confused, Buchou lifts an eyebrow at Akeno's explanation

"Maybe you used too much power on him?"

Xenovia questionates

"I don't think that was the case, we never saw this happening before"

Kiba replies to Xenovia

Buchou scratches her cheek, she seems really confused about what happened

"That's definitely not normal, but we checked his background before accepting him into Kuoh academy, he's definitely not related to the three powers. I don't think he was the catalyzer, but we can't discard anything just yet"

"I didn't sensed anything bad from him, well, besides the fact that he gave me a really creepy look when I left the class" - Irina says

"... I saw him in the corridor but I didn't sensed anything too"

Koneko chan says twitching her cat ears, so cute!

I decide to speak too, I don't think Kageyama-kun is a bad person

"If even Koneko-chan didn't felt anything from him, then it must have been something else..."

Akeno-san then looks down and starts saying something

"Yes, and also there was something..."

She speaks it in a voice barely above a whisper so I can't really hear what she said

"Hum, there was more?" Buchou questions

Akeno-san then waves her hand in front of her face

"No, nothing, forget about it"

Rias gives a confused look at Akeno and turns at us

"Anyway, there is something I need to tell all of you, maybe it's related to this incident"

She then looks to Kiba and Koneko

"It envolves the strange energy we felt"

Uh? What is she talking about? I look at the church trio and at Akeno-san, they all seem just as confused as I am

"What energy Buchou?"

She has a worried expression

"Do you remember the day in the entrance hall when we met the new student?"

I nod

"Yeah, what happened?"

That day I remember Kiba and Buchou acting weird for a moment, but later they said it was nothing

"The reason why me and Kiba acted the way we did was because we felt a strange energy we had never felt before and it was emanating from inside the school"

What?! From inside the school?

"W-what do you mean Buchou?"

I ask and Xenovia jumps in the conversation

"Are you saying someone was able to infiltrate Kuoh academy?"

After the invasion from the Fallen Angels and by the Old Maou Faction, the school and town were reinforced against any outsiders, it should have been impossible for someone to infiltrate!

Rias shakes her head

"We cannot tell for sure, the first time we felt that energy only me, Kiba and Koneko were able to notice"

Koneko-chan nods at this affirmation

"...I was really scared at the time, I had never felt something like it before"

Koneko-chan got scared by it?

"However, today me and Sona were having a meeting, there I heard that she and Shinra-san also felt the same thing we did, but while we were talking..."

She then takes a pause and looks at her hand before continuing

"We had a... terrible feeling, like someone was watching us, we knew that it had to be it again, that energy is no longer a one time event, I think it's safe for us to start taking it as a real threat"

Everyone is taken back by her words

"H-how we didn't noticed it?"

Rossweisse asks with a scared expression

She then sighs

"As expected, no one besides me and Sona felt it this time right?"

We all look around the room, but everyone seems clueless

"I didn't felt anything this time"

Koneko-chan says

Buchou nods

"I see, even I can't say that what I felt was truly a presence, it was more like the feeling of something bad about to happen, I'm glad Sona also felt it, otherwise I could have thought I was going crazy"

"Is that so serious?"

I ask, whoever is owner of the mysterious energy is, he hasn't done anything yet and has already caused trouble, what if he starts acting? What could happen to this town?

She puts her hand on her forehead

"It is Ise, and I'm terribly regretted to have taken it lightly and asked the others to keep it a secret from all of you. It was because I didn't want to worry the rest of you over something that could be nothing, I thought that the ORC had already the hands so full that we shouldn't free over it, but now I realized how that was irresponsible and I'm very sorry"

She said that with a sad expression, I clutch my fist, I don't believe buchou did something wrong.

She was just doing that to protect us, we from the ORC have already so many things in our head, she was just avoiding to make us more troubled.

"I trust your judgement more than anyone else Rias, you decided to act like this because there was no evidence, corret?"

Buchou nods

"You are right, Akeno. Alerting our superiors about a threat that we can't prove would be perceived as paranoia from our side and would make us seem mentally weak, that cannot happen, however, I still should have warned you, that was irresponsible and I'm very sorry for it."

So she there was that too, indeed, alerting the others without any evidence might have been dismissed as paranoia, and we can't allow ourselves to lose face.

"Tha-that's not a problem buchou! No one here blames you for that, we all know you were thinking about us, right guys?"

I blurt out, my friends smile and they answers after me.

"Ise is right, no one was hurt and so far no problems have happened, maybe not raising alarm was the right thing to do"

"Uhum, we totaly trust your decision, prez"

"Y-yes, I never once doubted Rias-ane judgment"

"I-if it's Rias-buchou who is saying it, t-then there's no reason to doubt her"

"...I only agreed to keep it a secret because I know you were caring for us"

"As a teacher, I believe you had our best interest in mind"

"Heh, as expected of everyone, we all trust you buchou, there's no way we're gonna hold it against you"

Hearing everyone's words Rias seems much happier

"Everyone..."

"Yes, we trust you with our lifes buchou, but what are gonna do now? Are we going after whoever might have done it?"

Buchou regains her composure and shakes her head

"Calm down Issei, when Koneko told me that she had felt that too I asked if she could tell us who done it, but the answer was inconclusive..."

"Inconclusive?"

I ask

"...Yes, I'm sorry, but I never felt that kind of energy before, it's not a devil, youkai or anything we have ever met"

"So we are dealing with something completely unknown?"

"That' very unsetling, but that must be the reason why neither I or the others were able to feel it"

Akeno-san says

Buchou nods

"That's probably right, the Student Council is investigating the source of this disturbance as we speak, we'll also aid them after we finish our own mission. Are you all okay with it?"

Everyone nods, of course we agree! If this is a threat to the school, then we'll do all we can to stop it!

"Hey, Akeno"

Azazel sensei, who was sitted on a chair listening to our conversation, speaks up

Since he was quiet all along, his sudden words make all the heads turn towards him.

"What is it?"

He scratches his goatee and looks through the window, he seems to be looking outside, at a particular tall tree

"You said the boy's name was Kageyama right?"

"Yes, it's his family name. The only thing weird about them was that his mother's identity wasn't disclosed to us, apparently she works for the government and any information aside from her first name is forbiden."

Instead of Akeno, it was Buchou who answered sensei. Government agency? That's weird, but I can understand, maybe she's a spy or something?

"I see, hehehe"

He's laughing, does Sensei know something about him?

"Do you know something?"

Akeno-san asks

"Well, no, but I have the feeling we'll all get to have an explanation soon enough. Hahaha! I was right in coming to this town, there really are a lot of interesting things attracted to it"

Sensei is chuckling, what does he mean with that?

Buchou seems mad at Sensei's provocation

"By the way Azazel, I've been meaning to ask you: Haven't you felt the energy as well? As the fallen angel governor, you sure must have noticed something was wrong"

She is right, if the energy was such a menace, then Azazel sensei definitely must have noticed it!

However, he shakes his head

"Not at all Rias, I think I must have been pretty relaxed when it happened so I didn't noticed it. Ah, the age must be starting to take a toll on me"

He says while he rubs his shoulder

"Are you sure, sensei?"

I ask him, if Kiba and Buchou sensed it, then I was sure Azazel sensei would have noticed it too

He merely shrugs

"I'm sorry, I'll try to be more alert, but if you guys just keep doing your work, I'm sure things will unfold eventually"

Sensei has been acting weird lately, he's been talking less and seems to be hiding something.

"Geez Azazel, you have to be more careful!"

Rossweisse scolds him, did she bought his explanation?

"Shouldn't you have felt it too Rossweisse? You are a Valkyrie after all"

Rossweisse turns red and starts fidgeting

"I-I-I, i-it was because, th-there was..."

She then gives up and her body slumps on the floor

"I'm sorry everyone, I'm a failure as a woman and as a valkyrie"

"There, there, calm down, it's not like we did any better"

Irina says trying to comfort her, Rossweisse is really harsh on herself sometimes

"Tsk, very well then, there has been another Stray who ran away to this town and he might have company, we have to deal with him. We'll help the Student Council with the investigations tomorrow, let's go!"

"""""Yes, buchou!""""

All members of the Gremory peerage answer

It's very strange, but there has been more stray demons in this town than usual, with the defeat of the Old Maou Faction, it's to be expected that the surviving members would flee, but there's something weird in so many being attracted to this town.

With that, the reunion is resumed and we go to our work as devils.


	10. Hunter

I slay the demons quite easily, what a pity, I was really looking forward to a warm up fight

These demons have a physical body, so I destroy them before exorcising their souls away.

Only one more left

"Guahh!"

The monstrosity screams as I send him flying and throw him against the ground

!

But what's this?

A stronger energy is coming my way? And I recognize this energy!

The demon tries to escape, I follow after it

"Oh no, you won't!"

Just as he tries to get out of my reach, I exorcise him and it bursts like a bubble

Right in front of where the creature was, there's a small girl with white hair and behind her... it's Issei!

Really? Already? Guess you really can't choose the time for your fights

Together with them there are other 8 people, these are the members of the ORC

The white haired girl, Koneko, has cat ears and a tail, so she's a mix of demon and nekomata? Interesting, this team is really exotic huh?

And this white color, could she be... a Nekoshou? No, it's impossible.

From all places for them to be, this shouldn't be one, there's plenty of white nekomatas out there, she must be just another one of them.

Anyway, I gotta focus right now.

Among them there is only one person I don't recognize, a small blonde girl with red eyes who seems to be trying to hide behind Xenovia, does she want to run away?

And that fallen angel teacher is not here, well, I'll deal with him later

Everyone seems terrified, guess they can sense my power

Rias Gremory angrily points her finger towards me and shouts

"You! Who are you and why are you interfering in the Gremory territory? We know you have been wandering in our school, now tell us your reason!"

Tsk, does she think she owns this town or something? I tilt my head in confusion

The white neko speaks

"...Buchou, it's a human"

Rias seems confused, I bet she never saw an esper before

"Are you sure Koneko?"

"Y-yes, but..."

I don't have time for chatting

I rush towards them and send an energy wave, both Issei and the nekomata are sent flying

[BLAST!]

A move I've named after the former number one hero "Blast", by using a psionic explosion I can generate great impact while still holding back my power, we're still in the middle of the street after all, so I can't destroy everything as I please.

That should deal with them for now

I look to the remaining ones

"Guess that's minus two. So, shall we begin?"

Well Ayumu, I think you'll be able to come here earlier than we thought.


	11. At the eyes of the prey

"Buchou, what happened? Why are we changing our destination?"

I don't understand what's going on, Buchou told us the stray would be in an abandoned house, but when we got there she said it went off somewhere else and told us to follow her

"I have no idea, we better get ready for the worst"

Buchou seems really worried, actually, everyone seems nervous

Akeno breaks the silence

"We are getting close"

Rias looks at me

"Ise, get ready!"

"Right! Boosted Gear!"

[BOOST!]

But then Akeno-san suddenly stops

"WAIT!"

"What?"

I ask puzzled

"Buchou, Koneko, can you sense it?"

"... Yes, such an intense bloodlust"

Koneko looks terrified, her cat ears are down and she's trembling

"Such a strong killing intent..."

Buchou says it with a nervous expression

Buchou seems scared

"Everyone be careful... there's something else in there, an horrible energy, something..."

Her eyes wide in shock

"Something I've felt before! Koneko, Kiba, you noticed it too?"

They nod

"It's the energy again..."

Koneko answers her

The energy? Really

"Buchou is this it? Is that the presence you told us about?"

She nods

"Yes, we'll finnally see who is the responsible"

"R-right now?"

I gulp down, even though most of us just heard about it now, we are already going to face whoever was able to infiltrate our school.

We run towards the presence

And as we get closer I start to feel it

A huge aura, an enormous and strange energy, what is causing this? This is not normal!

Buchou was right, this is different from anything we ever felt, it's powerful and mysterious at the same time

We reach the location where the aura is coming from, everything is destroyed, walls, cars, windows

And the monstrous bodies of the stray demons are horribly mutilated, someone got here before us.

"W-what happened in here?"

Rossweisse says preparing her magic circles

"Careful!"

Koneko jumps in front of me as a stray demon charges at us

But before he can reach us...

He pops just like a ballon and disapears

From behind him a human figure emerges...

?

Someone completely covered in a black robe with a mask that resembles a crow's skull stands in front of us

"W-what?"

What is that?

The creature then points his finger in the air and everything around us starts to move!

The broken walls, the shattered glass, the craters on the ground even the vehicles who were torn to pieces are completely rebuild!

It's like nothing happened here at all!

"Such power!"

Xenovia says it nervously

Buchou confidently points her finger at the figure and asks him in an angered tone

"You! Who are you and why are you interfering in the Gremory territory? We know you have been wandering in our school, now tell us your reason!"

The figure tilts it's head sideways, can it even understand words?

"Buchou, it's a h-human..."

Koneko chan says it while lowering her ears. Human? No way! Is he a sacred gear possessor too?

"Are you sure Koneko?"

Koneko nods, everyone seems to be on the edge around the figure

"Y-yes but..."

Before Koneko can finish her sentence, the figure disappears and reappears in front us in an instant!

What an incredible speed!

He lifts his hand

BOOOM!

!

Without giving us time to react, an incredible flow of energy hits us and me and Koneko are sent flying!

What was that? I didn't even see it, but it's like I got hit by a truck!

We fly for several seconds before hitting something solid

"KUAHHH!"

Even thought it hurts like hell, I'm glad Koneko was standing in front of me, that way she hitted my chest instead of the wall.

But the impact was so hard that Koneko's body sinks on mine, the wall behind me and her weight makes it feel like my inner organs are being crushed!

"Aghhh!"

"Issei-senpai, are you ok?"

Koneko helps me getting up, but it's no good, the attack was hard and I wasn't wearing my armour, there's blood coming from my mouth

"I'll be fine, thank you"

"...Issei-senpai, sorry for landing on you, I couldn't..."

"Don't worry about it, we couldn't control it"

From where we stand we can still hear the sounds coming from the battle, this thing is terrifying, he's being able to hold Buchou and the entire club all by himself?

"Koneko-chan, when we were approaching here, you seemed really scared, what did you sensed from that figure?"

Koneko is shaking

"...A really powerful energy, something I never sensed before, it wasn't malice from dark arts, nor raw power like your Sekyruuitei, it's abnormal..."

So that's what we are dealing with?

"...But most of all, what scared me the most was..."

"Huh?"

There's more? Koneko-chan started shaking, what did she felt that was so horrible?

"He was human... he wasn't a demon, angel, fallen angel, youkai or anything, no matter how I looked at him, that scary... man is just human"

Is that what's scaring her so much? Shouldn't she be glad that he wasn't a monster or anything?

"I-I never saw a human like that, not even the exorcists... I'm scared Issei-san, I don't know what he's capable of"

So that's it, she's scared because she doesn't know what to do, hell, even I am scared! But I can't let my kouhai get sad like that!

"Koneko-chan, I don't know what that thing is either and, to be honest, I am really scared too. My brain can't wrap around things like that, but human or not, we gotta help Buchou and the others. Don't worry, no matter what happens I'll protect you, I wouldn't be a good senpai if I couldn't at least help my cute kouhai right?"

Koneko-chan looks up again, somehow she seems happier

"Thank you Issei-senpai"

I offer my hand and she holds it

"If you need my courage I'll offer it to you anytime, right now we gotta go back to the battlefied!"

"Y-Yes!"

We charge back towards the center of the fight

For what Koneko-chan just told me, I can't hold back against this guy

Let's go, Ddraig!

WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER! [SCALE MAIL]!


	12. The first showdown

"Unforgivable!"

After seeing her servants being blow away by my power, Rias shouts while forming a block of red energy on her hands and shooting at me

I counter it and send it back to her, she dodges, but it still manages to bruise her arm

She looks surprised for a moment, guess she didn't expected her attack could be reflected like this

"Ugh, what are you doing here? A human has no business in this town!"

Tsk, so she's looking down on me for being human, she doesn't know who she's dealing with!

"The one who has no business in this world..."

I say as I raise my hand

"IS YOU!"

I push Rias against the floor with my telekinesis, she falls so forcefully that the ground cracks

"Buchou!" - Some of her servants exclamate

She tries to stand up just for me push her down again

"Disappear!"

[Blast]

I charge an explosion and Rias breaks several walls as she is blown backwards

"Y-you!"

Kiba lands his sword on the ground

[Sword Birth]

Suddenly, swords of different shapes start to pop from the floor charging towards me

I crush the swords into pieces before they even hit me

"How dare you hurt Rias!"

Rossweisse says this as several bullets of energy and ice shards are shot at me

[Psychic shot]

Using telekinetic force and aura, I create a powerful array of my own bullets and destroy hers

[Durandal Sword]

Xenovia moves her hand inside something that seems a distortion in space and pulls an oversized sword out of it

That sword has some seriously intense destruction aura and a huge holy power too, can a demon even use such a powerful sword?

"Yuuto, let's do this!"

"Yes!"

[Holy-Demonic sword]

Kiba summons another sword, but this one is different...

Somehow it produces both demonic and holy aura!

How? There's no way these opposites can coexist in the same object!

These new demons, their organization, the scene in the music room, Issei's weird energy and now these swords

All this is making me really confused!

Since I've arrived in this town I've been having more questions than answers, the clues I have don't tell me much and everyone around me either doesn't know anything or is hiding something.

Very well then, I'll take my answers if I have to!

If I overpower and defeat them without exorcising, I'll get an explanation out of them, even if it means hurting them to the point they can't move!

Xenovia first tries a ranged attack by shooting her sword's holy aura at me, I simply send it back with more strength but she manages to dodge it

She's fast, but...

I move close to her and she tries to strike me, I easily dodge and punch her face

Just as I thought...

They may be fast, but compared to me, they are still hatchlings

A wave of demonic aura is shot at me from Kiba, I annulate it with my own aura

"Yuuto, ranged attacks won't work against him!"

Xenovia is a fast learner

"Let's attack together"

"Yes!"

The blondie comes at me with the demonic aura on his sword, I block it with my arm

"Take this!"

Xenovia shouts as she tries to hit me

I also block her attack

"You two are pathetic"

[Push]

Both are throw in the air and pushed against the ground

""Aghhh""

As they stand up, I point towards them

"You call yourselfs swordsmen? Compared to Atomic Samurai and Flash-san, you guys bring shame to art of the sword"

Thanks to the mask, my voice is modified, so they won't know it's me.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?"

Xenovia asks, heh, kids these days probably will never know the names of the former heroes

Geez, I just talked like an old man didn't I?

"If you two want a sword fight so badly, then let me show you my [Dual Style]"

I raise my two index fingers as my aura wraps around them taking the shape of a sword

Both look bewildered at me

"Heh, so you look down on us so much that you are saying you are going to defeat us just by using your finger?"

I point at him with the aura sword

"I wouldn't underestimate this finger if I were you"

"Hey Xenovia, let's show this bastard to not underestimate the knights of Gremory"

She shows a defiant smile

"Yeah, time for the Gremory knights combo! Let's go!"

Both charge at me with their swords

I dodge and block their attacks with ease, they are pretty skilled, but I'm used to be severely outnumbered in my fights, so this is nothing.

Our swords swing and I make occasional cuts at their bodies, avoiding to pierce their vitals.

After a brief exchange they already seem tired, I noticed that during the entire time they were seeking for a breach to attack, too bad I don't have any.

"You are good, but can you block this? Xenovia, get his right!"

He shouts and both of them attack at the same, Kiba comes straight from my front left and Xenovia runs and jumps to attack me from the back.

"This is USELESS!"

I block their swords with my fingers, you can't outsmart me, even if you are fast, your presence will give you away

"NOW!"

Kiba shouts as the demonic power on his sword starts to emanate more energy and envelops my arm as if trying to swallow my aura

"This is one of my skills, with my demonic-holy sword I can devour my opponent's aura!"

Seriously? He really doesn't know what he's dealing with, isn't he?

He said that with such confidence, I feel kinda bad for doing this, but...

"Oh, so you want more of my aura? Why you didn't said so? Take as much as you two want!"

My swords dissolve and I my aura spreads into their swords

"W-what?!"

"That's what you wanted right? SO TAKE IT!"

My aura eventually spreads and engulfs both of their bodies and forces them to bow down

"Damnit!"

"How is this happening?"

"You cannot consume an aura stronger than yours, looks like you underestimated me"

Akeno appears to interfere in the fight

"Let them go!"

She says while several bolts of eletricity start to form around her

Eletrokinesis?! She can use eletrokinesis?

[Holy Lightning]

I lift Kiba in the air and throw him towards her attack

"Watch out!"

I warn them, but Akeno makes her eletricity change direction and avoids hitting her friend

"Don't underestimate my Lightning!"

Oh so, that's just demonic lightning?

"What a disappointment, I actually thought we had something in common"

My barrier holds her lightning before it can hit me

"But if you can adjust the direction of your attack, then so can I"

I move my left hand and reflect the ligthning back to her

"Not so fast!"

Kiba stands up and devours the lightning with his sword

Taking advantage of his distraction I throw a big block of the ground towards them

"Don't forget about me!"

Rossweisse flies in and several bolts of different elements come forward and shatter the rock into pieces

"That was a poor decision"

I make the shards of stone halt in the air

[Reconstruct]

Through molecular manipulation I make the rock rebuild itself, but this time with Rossweisse as the center!

"W-what? How is this..."

She tries to fight back, but the rock finally envelops her and she is completely stuck into it

I throw the now imprisioned Rossweisse towards Akeno and Kiba

"Now what you gonna do?"

I say to them as the block quickly approaches

"Akeno-san, we gotta dodge!"

Akeno tries to fly while Kiba steps sideways, but this time I make the floor on their surroundings lift up and bend to cover their exits, they are now stuck in the middle of the target

"W-what?!"

"Time for the boom!"

As the rock is close to hit, I create an explosion, Rossweisse is freed from the rock but all the three of them are sent flying away

"GAAHHH!"

I hear several screams dying out after the blast

"And now... it's you"

I look at Xenovia, who has been pinned down watching the fight this entire time

She has a defiant smile on her face, I honestly thought she would be more scared

"Incredible, you did all of this using only your left hand while your right hand was keeping me stuck in place, I was waiting for an opening, but you really don't have any"

She doesn't know the concept of telekinesis, I really didn't need to use my hands for it, but doing so helps me focus on what I want to do, so it makes it easier to combine thoughts with hand gestures.

"You don't seem so scared. Got any other tricks on your sleeve?"

Xenovia sneers

"Tsk, I'm not the type that uses complicated strategies, I have faith in my power, so if you don't have any openings..."

The sword on her hand starts glowing intensely, the aura of destruction expands itself into a much bigger shape

"Then I'll just create one!"

She shouts as the destruction aura of her sword growns large enough to destroy the aura that was holding her down

"Now I'm free again!"

She states while jumping backwards and pointing her sword at me

"What you think of this trick huh?"

CLAP CLAP CLAP

I simply start clapping while I walk towards her, she stiffs her stance as I get closer

"Nice move, really nice, but tell me, why didn't you used it when your friends were trying to free you?"

The look of confidence on her face immediately fades when she hears me

"Hehehe, you don't have to tell me, because your face tells me everything I need to know"

I lift my finger in the air

"When you arrived, Kiba already had his sword draw, but you only drew yours after confirming I was a threat, also, why would you need to keep it hidden into that space gap? Well, the answer is obvious"

I point at her sword

"You can't control the destruction aura of this sword, it's too strong for you! That's why you used that trick as a last resort, drawing its full power takes too much effort from you, right now just releasing yourself must have really tired you out, right?"

She takes a step back

"T-that's not it, I'm a natural wielder of Durandal!"

"Oh, Durandal, so that's the name? Such a powerful sword, but what a pitiful wielder, fortunately for me..."

I charge forward and touch the tip of her sword with my finger

"I'm very good at controlling auras!"

The aura of Durandal withdraws, coiling itself back and the blade lose it's spark, making it look almost like a regular weapon"

A look of despair appears on Xenovia's face as her sword is no longer following her orders

"W-what? No, that's impossible!"

"And unfortunately for you..."

I say while sinking Durandal's blade on the ground and charging to Xenovia

"It's very possible!"

I kick her in the gut and blood flies out of her mouth as she is trust backwards

With her out of it's range, the sword is now planted on the ground, I run my fingers on the blade analysing it's shape

"Durandal, right? Maybe I should use this sword against you? What a delicious irony would be to see a demon slayed by it's own sword"

I move my hand to touch Durandal's haft, but as soon as I approach it, a deadly glow sparks and my hand is repulsed

"AGHHH!

I scream in pain, what the hell? That hurted a lot!

"Huhuhuhu!"

I can hear Xenovia, who just managed to get back on her feet laughing

"Durandal is a sword that chooses its wielder, even if you can control it's aura, it doesn't mean you are fit to use it!"

I look at my hand, even though there are no visible marks, I can feel a stinging sensation, guess that'll teach me not to take what's not mine huh?

"Heh, well, if I can't use the sword, then I'll destroy you with it's aura then!"

I lift the Durandal in the air with my telekinesis, it's aura glows, I shape it into a ball of condensed aura and throw it at Xenovia

Untill a block of black-redish energy comes and destroys the aura

Standing in front of the injured Xenovia is Rias, her body glowing in a dangerous crimson aura

"Rias?"

"Were you expecting someone else?"

She says throwing an orb of her destruction power towards me

I swing my hand and deflect it

"No, sorry if you misunderstood, but..."

I slightly curl my back to look closer at her uniform

"Yo, do you care to explain me one thing?"

Rias is taken back by my question

"What?"

"Don't fall for his tricks, Buchou!"

Xenovia warns her, I wave my hand

"This is not a trick, I just want to know: This uniform of yours, the sleeve and the place where I hit you earlier are torn, but the injuries are gone."

"What are you talking about in this situation?!"

I point at the hole on the area of her uniform's stomach

"I hit you pretty hard back there, I'm pretty sure I heard some walls breaking and everything, how come you seem unharmed?"

She smirks

"Maybe your attack wasn't all that? Have you thought about it?"

I point at the huge crater left by my attack on her servants

"I think Xenovia and those three wouldn't agree on that, so you either have some amazing regeneration or..."

A concerned expression appears on their faces and a smile immediately draws on mine, obviously they won't see it under the mask

"You have a healer don't you? You sneaky bitch!"

Even among espers there are those who are able to use their ESP energy to cure wounds and even diseases, so they have a person like that with them

I start making counts with my fingers to see how many devils were, I already saw the abilities of 5, so that means it's either Issei, the neko girl, Asia or the...

"You asshole! Stay away from Asia!"

I pause for a moment...

And burst into laughter

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!"

Hearing my sudden outburst Rias yells

"What are you laughing about?"

I reply while drying my eyes

"I didn't knew who your healer was, you idiot! You just gave her away now! The one dressed as a nun, right?"

The look on their faces turns from annoyance into ouright panic

"You, how do you know her name? No one said it untill now! So we were right, you were infiltrated in our school all along!"

"Ugh!"

Oh fuck! I forgot about it! Now they know I'm in an insider!

Fuck it! They'll all die here anyway!

"Hey, you rat! Give me back Durandal!"

I hear Xenovia shout, she couldn't have asked that at a worse time

"As you wish!"

I lift Durandal with my telekinesis and throw it with it's aura blooming towards them

"Can you even dodge that?"

Even if Rias can dodge it, there's no way the injured Xenovia will make it in time!

"Huh?"

But to my surprise, Durandal and it's aura were frozen in the middle of the air!

I look at my left and I see the red eyed girl from before, her eyes are sparkling

"Xenovia, Buchou, run!"

As soon as she yells that, Rias and Xenovia destroy the obstacles I created to difficult their escape and fly away to my other side

Telekinesis? No, this can't be, it's totally different from it

"You little shit!"

I shout as I lift the girl in the air and prepare to smash her on the ground

She then averts her gaze from the sword

CRASH

Durandal flies free once again and destroys the ground where Rias and Xenovia were standing before

"W-what?"

She looks at me, the girl's eyes sparkle and then...

And then...

Something happened!

I know something happened!

Xenovia has her sword back and the three are standing at another place together, with the little girl safe and unharmed

When did this happened?

It's definitely not telekinesis! I didn't even noticed what was happening around me

...

No...

Could this be?

The thing I've been looking for, someone who can actually use it!

I have to confirm it!

"Hey, take this!"

I step on the ground and lift a large block of rock to throw at them

But as expected, it stops midway and Rias uses her power to destroy it

So that's it! There's no doubt!

I soaked with my energy one of the small tufts of grass that grow in the cracks of the ground, if I use my energy manipulation I can make plants grow and mature nonstop, however, even that portion of grass stopped growing, this wouldn't have happened if she was only stopping the rock, now I know it's gotta be it!

"I'm right behind you!"

I took advantage of their temporary distraction to fly behind them

[BLAST]

I create a sucession of large explosions to sweep Rias and Xenovia out of battle

"NOW IT'S YOU"

I grab the girl's head, obscuring her view and pummeling her face against the ground

"Can't stop what you can't look at, right?"

"GAHHH!"

She screams as I punch her guts and bash her face on the floor

"You! You know how long I looked for someone like you? You can stop time, right? You are chronokinetic, right? Yours is a very limited form, but nervetheless amazing! I'm definitely taking you with me!"

A demon who can manipulate time? This is a once in a lifetime discovery! I have to inform everyone about this, I knew this kid was different from the others the moment I laid eyes on her, aside from her devil aura, she emmanates another one I've never sensed before

"No! Let me go, please!"

She yells while forming a magic circle on her hands

"It's useless!"

I envelop my fists in aura and do a thing I've wanted to do for a long time

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

I assault her with a barrage of punches untill she's completely passed out on the floor

"FUCK! I always wanted to do this! It's ten times more satisfying when your opponent can actually stop time!"

I pick the little girl by the collar of her shirt

"You'll come with me"

"Let Gasper go!"

Swords, lightning and energy beams of several colours fly towards me

I quickly fly to dodge them

Akeno, Kiba and Rossweisse are back and they seem fine, the one responsible for that is right at their rearguard, protected by the three

"Everyone, do your best, I'll heal all of you right away!"

The cute blonde girl in a nun outfit says this as a green aura flies out of her hand and into her teammates

"Asia, focus on Buchou and Xenovia-san for now! They are in the most need! We'll cover you!"

"Alright!"

The glown on her hands sparks brighter and it starts reaching out to the defeated Rias and Xenovia

"Oh, hell no!"

I stand between them and absorb Asia's healing energy

"Amazing, so this is the power of a healer!"

A warm and pleasant feeling spreads through my body, even the lingering pain left by Durandal is now gone!

"I'm sorry, my healing won't get through him!"

"Tsk, it's really a troublesome opponent!"

"In that case, we have to take him out of the way, everyone!"

I laugh

"I already defeated you all once with only one hand, why do you think it's going to be different this time? I also know that healers can't restore your energy, so you all must be pretty exhausted, right?"

It's clear that even if their wounds are healed, their stamina hasn't been repleted, I point to the street behind them

"Look, right now I'll satisfy myself with your leader, the sword girl and the time stopper, so go away and take those two that I blasted at the beginning of the fight with you, it's easier this way right?"

I declare as I turn my back to them, demons are selfish creatures, if it's to save their lifes they will turn against anyone

But something is coming towards my back

I turn around

[Psychic shot]

I use my aura and psychic force as a bullet to destroy the attacks that were coming towards me

"What the hell? Do you all wanna die here?! I told you to go!"

But instead of stepping back they harden their stances and Kiba shouts

"Are you fucking joking with us? Do you really think we would just abandon Buchou and our precious friends with you?!"

W-what?

"Tsk, d-do you really I'm going to fall for this stupid trick, what are you planning?"

Akeno opens her hand and a seal appears on it

"Nothing! We have no plans at all, but even we have to fight to death, there's no way we are going to leave them behind!"

There's no way this is true, they are demons!

"Hahaha! You expect me to fall for that? If you want to die so much then DIE!"

I charge towards them, dodging their attacks and hitting them

Rossweisse is the first to fall, a straight punch on her chin shatters her defences and a explosion makes her crash on the ground leaving a smoking crater with her on it

Kiba is the next, I lift him in the air and my aura shot sends him flying away

"Now you!"

I use my barrier to avoid Akeno's lightning

[BLAST]

A powerful explosion forces her against the ground

"Akeno-san, Rossweisse, Kiba!"

Seeing her friends defeated one by one, Asia seems desperate as tears flow down her face

"You are the last one now, get ready"

I shape my aura into a sword and get ready to pierce her chest

"No, no... someone, Issei-san..."

She walks backwards trying to escape her fate

"Don't worry, you won't die just from this"

She's looking at me with terrified teary eyes, hell, why am I starting to feel like I'm the villain here?

I lift my hand ready to cut through her but...

I hesistate?

"Huh?"

I'm hesitating! Why?

I slap my face hard with my other hand

"Demons are evil existences! It's our duty to exterminate them! Not because we hate them, but because it's what we must do!"

I say out loud, not to her, but to myself

We espers don't kill demons and evil spirits because we hate them or because of a particular religious dogma, but because it's our duty, supernatural existences are attracted to us and our power allows us to terminate the evil ones.

"Yes, there was never another option"

As my sword is about to cut Asia, I feel a presence behind me

!

I dodge to my side and the place where I was is pierced by Durandal!

"You, how are you even stading?"

Xenovia gets between us, lifts her sword and puts a stance

"I promised..."

She is trembling, her body is greatly weakened and injured, it surprises me the fact that she can even lift that huge sword in this state

"I promised Asia I would protect her!"

She screams as she tries to take a battle instance

"Me too"

An aura of destruction comes towards me and I lift a barrier to stop it

Rias flies and also stands in front of Asia, her state is no better than Xenovia's

"I will never, ever, let someone like you hurt my precious servants!"

This words ring into my heart

Precious? Cut this crap, it can't be...

Why you don't act like normal demons?!

"FUCK YOU!"

I blurt out, the three wide their eyes at my reaction

"Precious? You are a demon! Act like one, don't give me this bullshit!"

I use my telekinesis to force them into their knees

"Beg for your life!"

I say as I punch Xenovia who desperately tried to use her sword, but couldn't even lift herself from the ground

"Curse me! Run and abandon your partners!"

Rias tries to use her power of destruction but I hold it with my hand and throw it back to her, since we're so close and she's stuck on the floor, she couldn't dodge it

"Act like the selfish, evil creatures that you are!"

I lift my hand to Asia

"I will never buy this stupid talk of yours!"

I form an aura bullet on my hand and shoot it towards her

This is the end!

*VOOSH*

*BOOM*

W-what?

"This again?!"

A red aura colides with my energy and they explode together

When I look, Asia is no longer there

A figure wearing red armour flew in the air with Asia on it's arms!

!

And from behind me comes a punch that colides with my aura's protection

It's Koneko!

She throws kicks and punches towards me, I block her attacks and after seeing that they don't work she opens her hand and shoots a white fireball that dissipates once it collides with me

She runs to the side of the guy who just blocked my attack

His energy! It's without a doubt from Issei, but I can't recognize him

He's wearing a red armour with jets

Damn, he looks... kinda cool on it.

Not only that, but I can see his energy increased a lot!

"Be careful Ise-san, even my Senjutsu couldn't get through him"

"Don't worry Koneko-chan, are okay Asia?"

"Yes, Rias-ane and Xenovia-san protected me"

Hearing her words he points at me

"I don't know who you are or why are you doing this but I won't let anyone hurt my Asia!"

"Ise!"

"Darling!"

Xenovia and Rias say this, everyone seems happy at seeing him

"What took you so long?"

I hear Xenovia asking

"I'm sorry, there was the countdown for my Balance Breaker and this guy managed to send us pretty far away..."

He then looks at me

"You are powerful, huh? But I'll never forgive anyone who hurts my friends"

Ugh, again with this "nakama" bullshit

"Ise, be careful, everyone else was already defeated, Asia couldn't heal them because he can interfere with her healing aura"

Rias says to him and Asia nods at her explanation

Issei then looks at Koneko

"Me and Koneko will fight him, Asia, please do your best to heal everyone"

He thinks that will work?

Rias and Xenovia try to stand up

I increase the pressure around them

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The girls scream as a crater forms beneath them from the strength I just created

Issei looks pissed

"Let Buchou and Xenovia go! "

He charges towards me and punches me, but just like Koneko's punch, I barely feel it.

He keeps trying to hit me, but I easily dodge his punches and kicks

I punch his chest and his chestplate breaks

"Shit, you are really strong aren't you?"

"If you realize this, then you must know that if you keep holding back, this won't end well for you"

I can still see that he is not using his full strength, is he taking me lightly?

"Heh, guess I'll have to go all out"

[PROMOTION: ROOK]

As he says that, his aura shines for a moment and I can notice that his power increased

(BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!)

A weird voice comes from the gauntlet in his left hand as he flies again towards me

Then he punches again

!

Suddenly his punch feels heavier! It shatters my barrier!

(BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!)

He throws again another punch and I block it with my arm!

Pain? His punch connects and the pain resonates through my body

"UGH!"

"Let them go now!"

I create another barrier, crap I wasn't expecting to be pushed to use more than I normally use in a fight, but this boy sure is something

[BLAST!]

I push him against the ground and drag him across, the concrete breaks as I drag him through it

I throw him high in the air and push him on the ground, a crater opens when he hits the concrete and I send several aura shots against him

BOOOOOM

Maybe that'll do it

But from the smoke created by the explosion, the same voice from before echoes

(BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOOOOST!)

He gets up and comes towards me again! This time he charges a powerful energy blast

I disperse it with my bullets before it hits me

"Koneko-chan, take the others and leave! I'll save Buchou and everyone!"

What? No, you won't!

I close the distance between us in a instant, he seems surprised

Even though he's fast, he still can't keep up with me

But... why do I feel like he's still not using his full power?

I throw an energy punch, breaking his helmet and sending him to the ground

Then I fly towards Asia and Koneko, the nekomata is carrying Xenovia and Rias while Asia heals them

"Stop right there!"

I paralyze the both and as I'm about to attack, Issei flies towards me, he wants to hit me while my aim is at them? This will not work!

I turn to him while charging an explosion with his name on it

But then...

Issei flies past me, completely ignoring the chance to attempt a hit on me and covers Asia and Koneko

This...

This doesn't make sense...

Why is he trying so hard to shield this girl? In fact, why are all these demons so concerned about protecting each other?

None of this makes sense

92%

93%

94%

Why do I feel like I'm the bad guy in here?

You are demons! Stop acting like you are heroes!

95%

96%

97%

"I don't know who you are, but I won't let no one hurt Asia or any of my friends!"

This boy's words resonate within my soul, this words...

"If you want to attack someone, attack me!"

Are the words I've already heard from heroes...

Words I've heard from mom, from dad, from _that guy_ , from other heroes

I'm frozen just staring at the two of them

"So what? Ain't gonna do anything else?"

Issei shouts at me while making a stance

98%

99%

...

This feelings dwelling within me, I feel like I'm on the verge of exploding but...

I don't feel like fighting right now

Take a deep breath...

Remember who you are, hold back your emotions

Ok, I managed to control myself, but what I'm gonna do now?

...

Then I do something I've never done in my entire life

I give my back to them

For some reason, I feel like they won't try to attack me

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Ignoring Issei's words, I distance myself

"Wait! Where do you think you are going?!"

Rias, who seems much better now thanks to Asia, flies into the air and throws another wave of her red energy at me

I reflect it, another huge crater opens in the ground

Oh yeah, this reminds me that there's one more thing to do

As I leave, I use my powers to rebuild the area, it would be troublesome if other people were to find the place like this

I make my best to rebuild everything that we destroyed, and as expected, they don't try to attack me while I'm doing it.

"W-what is going on..."

I hear one of them saying as I lift myself in the air and fly away

Their voices are already distant, I speed up my flight and go as far as I can from here

* * *

Afterword: Okay, this took some time to complete, hope you all enjoyed it, there will obviously be many more fights in future chapters, so I would like to know your opinions on this one so I can have a reference for the future ones. I wrote almost everything while listening to Vento Aureo's and Baki's OST so I could get some inspiration. I'm completely addicted to "Canzoni Preferite" and Dorian's "Amour de ma vie"


	13. The heroes

"Cao Cao-sama! Cao Cao-sama!"

"Huh? What's the matter?"

"As you know, we have been monitoring the activities on several territories..."

The wielder of the Holy Spear noded his head

"To know the places where we can send our members off to awake their Balance Breakers, yes, I'm aware of that"

He then gestured for his soldier to proceed

"Correct, however, today we noticed a sudden spike of energy in the territory of Rias Gremory"

"The master of the current Sekiryuutei?"

"Yes sir, we have noticed that the town's defence has been lowered, but it was also unleashed a large amount of energy from unknown origin"

"What do you mean by unknown origin?"

"Exactly what it says sire, we have never encountered this kind of energy before, it leads us to believe that something new might have awakened in their territory"

"Oh, how interesting, what do you think about it, Siegfried?

The man who was listening to the conversation answered with a hand under his chin

"Well, it is true that the current Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou have been undergoing irregular transformations regarding their sacred gears..."

"What should we do sir?"

A confident smile emerged on the leader's face

"I think it's about time our Hero Faction payed a visit to the Maou's sister, gather some of our soldiers and prepare their departure, let's see what these devils have stored for us"


	14. The Gremory's sorrow

**Beforeword** : Thank you very much for the reviews about the battle chapter, I'm glad to see you enjoyed it. I'll try to make even better ones in the future chapters, look forward to it.

* * *

After what happened, we all went back to the club room

No one said a word on the way back, and even now we are completely silent

We are too ashamed, too surprised, too angry

Xenovia, Kiba, Gasper and Rossweisse are in another room, they received the worst injuries, so Asia is taking care of them.

Buchou, Akeno-san and I had some major injuries, but now we are mostly fine thanks to Asia's sacred gear

I didn't realize until the fight was over, but not only I had external injuries, it also seems like those hits were able to cause internal and spiritual damage as well, that must be the reason why I feel so exhausted even when I was one who did less actual fighting. That creature was abnormally strong...

No, it's wrong to think about him as a creature, what we faced today was human...

It hurts just to think about it

Koneko-chan confirmed, it was definitely a human

We were completely overwhelmed and defeated by a single human

"So, Rias, are you going to explain what happened?"

Sona-kaichou speaks. When we arrived at school, the Sitri peerage was waiting for us with the results of their investigations around the school. Seeing our state, they helped to carry the others to the club room, now Sona, Saji and Shinra-fukukaichou are with us while the others are helping Asia to take care of the wounded

In the middle of the urgency there was no time to explain anything, but now that things have calmed down, we can finally talk

"I wish I could give you a better explanation Sona, all we know is that when we got there, someone had already taken care of our job, a figure clad in a black robe with a plague doctor's mask had killed the strays and then he also attacked us"

"Wait, a single person did that to you?!"

Saji interrupts

Buchou nods with a bitter expression on her face

Sona sighs and puts a hand on her forehead

"What was it?"

"A human, with no sacred gear..."

It's true, after waking up, Gasper confirmed what we feared the most: He wasn't a sacred gear user

'I'm sorry Rias-senpai, but the glasses Azazel sensei gave me didn't detect any form of sacred gear on him'

That's what Gasper-kun said, leaving us with no clue of what was used against us

Sona's expression gets more concerned

"A mage then?"

Rias shakes her head

"We have no idea, it's power and how it managed to do the things it did beats me"

Sona's expression turns from concern to one of absolute nervousness

"I-I see... so it happened with you too..."

Hearing her words, Saji and Shinra look at the ground with sad expressions

"What do you mean?"

Rias asks

Sona reaches her hand to Shinra-fukukaichou

"The reports, please"

Shinra hands her several papers and she gives them to Buchou

Buchou gives a sarcastic smile putting her hand against her forehead

"Heh, inconclusive"

"So there was no evidence left in the school?"

Akeno-san asks

Sona adjusts her glasses

"We didn't found traces of magic, demonic energy or anything of the sort, however..."

Sona says pulling out a single paper from the pile

"Thanks to the reinforcements we received from the underworld, we were able to detect one thing: Aura disruption"

"Uh? Aura disruption?"

I ask

"It's a form of aura detection much like Koneko's Senjutsu, however, this one is used to detect irregularities in the normal flow of a certain areas's ki"

"Ki? Our school has a ki?"

It's the first time I've heard about it

Buchou nods

"Our school was founded on demonic power and this territory has received the blessing of the three powers. If there was any interference of a known entity, he would either be prevented from entering or we would have been alerted eventually, that unknown force might not leave presence, but you have seen his aura, no? A different aura and power of that kind in here will affect the flow of ki for sure. Obviously, demons like us would not be able to notice, but thanks to the technology of the three factions, it was possible to detect that difference"

I'm still confused, but then Rias gives a triumphant smile and says something I actually understand.

"So, in other words, the think that makes him different is exactly what made him get caught!"

I slam my fist against my palm

"I see! You are saying that even if he hides his presence, the moments that he uses his power will eventually lead to an unbalance in the school's ki because he is different, right?"

"That's exactly it"

Sona says while giving a smile

I got it now, if it was a know enemy, we would be alerted, but if he is unknown and strong, the ki reading technology will show that he is here! Damn, the three powers really made our town into a fort, it's kinda scary if you think about it.

Buchou spreads the sheets on the table and we look into it

There are several bars and graphics with dates on it, but one of them is really low

"H-hey Buchou, why is this one so low?"

"This is the bar from where the presence was first detected"

"Shouldn't it it be higher than the others? I mean, since it's aura is so strong?"

I don't understand it, why is the scale smaller when he arrived?

Koneko-chan then walks up to the papers and looks at them

"...I see, so it's that strong"

"What are you talking about, Koneko-chan?"

I ask her confused

Buchou looks at Sona, that begins to explain

"It is really weird, I was astonished when I saw it the first time too. An aura interference can have many effects: Random spikes of ki, changes in the flow, but the explanation in this situation is that the presence is affecting the demonic ki because it's actually smoothering the demonic energy"

I wide my eyes at her explanation

"W-What?"

Buchou sighs and puts her hand under her chin

"This guy must be using his power to supress the demonic ki of our town, that must be the reason why so many strays have been attracted!"

Sona nods her head

"The interference has weakened our presence, hence it makes it easier for them to notice the town and come here"

What? So that guy is the reason?

Actually, wait! Hold on a minute!

"Buchou, you said the town's ki? Weren't we talking about the school?"

Rias and Sona look sad for a moment and Kaichou turns the document to the first page where it reads in demonic alphabet

'Flow of Ki from Kuoh Town'

What?!

I look at Koneko who has the same terrified expression that I must have

"The whole t-town?"

She says with her body trembling

"You didn't notice Koneko-chan?"

I ask her

"N-no"

"Koneko-chan might have noticed a difference in the school's ki, but there was no way she could tell the whole demonic energy of our town was being suppressed"

But Koneko shakes her head

"No... I should have noticed, sorry buchou, I couldn't detect him and I couldn't even slow him down... I'm so sorry"

She has tears on her eyes

I pat her head

"It's not your fault Koneko-chan, no one here blames you"

I try to comfort my kouhai, but she has been truly shaken by what we were just told

"But Kaichou, there's good news on that too right?"

Saji asks her and a small smile, perhaps of hope, appears on Sona's face

"Yes, you understand that too, right Rias? Since this presence is affecting the entire town, it might be very possible that he is not on our school like we once thought, maybe he did came here once or twice, but with that, there's a chance that he has not infiltrated our Academy"

I see, if it's like this, then it's likely that he was not on our school and the bad feeling that Kaichou and Buchou felt was actually from his interference in the town's energy

I feel happier listening to what she said, but Buchou's expression drops immeadiately and she seems to be at a loss of what to say

"Buchou? What happened?"

"Rias?"

"W-what is it? It's good news, right?"

Even Saji is worried at the face Buchou just made

She lays against her chair and says it with a hopeless look

"I'm sorry Sona, but I belief that he is inside our school, in fact, I'm almost certain of it"

The expression of despair on Buchou's face spreads to everyone in the room

"What do you mean?! H-how do you know that?"

Saji says in a burst of anger

"Calm down, Saji! I'm sure Rias has her reasons for it"

Buchou nods her head and swallows up before answering

"I do, but before I answer, Ise"

She looks at me with a serious look in her eyes

"You have to promise me you won't do anything reckless"

The heads in the room turn to me when she says that

"Eh, why me?"

"You have the tendency of taking risky actions when those you hold dear are threatened, I know it's part of who you are, but you have to promise me you'll analyse the situation with us, otherwise I would like you to leave the room before I answer Sona"

I'm taken back by Buchou's declaration, I know that what she said is true, I do tend to get reckless when its about my friends, but what could she have to say that would be so horrible?

Despite my fear, I close my fist and answer resolutely

"Alright, no matter what you say, I promise I'll try to work it out and control myself"

Buchou then nods her head and looks at Sona

"During our fight with him, he said Asia's name when we never revealed it to him"

My eyes wide at her words

Asia?

He said... Asia's name?

"How did it happen?"

Sona asked

Buchou puts her hand against her forehead

"We underestimated his abilities and he figured out we had a healer, when Xenovia told him to stay away from Asia, he immediately recognized her even though we had never said her name before, that's how we know"

That bastard, he knows who Asia is? He knows who we are?

"Ise, calm down, remember what you promised"

I clench my teeth in anger

"Ise-san, please calm down"

"Ise..."

Akeno-san and Koneko plead, I notice that I'm letting my anger ooze out

I close my eyes and take a deep breath to try controlling myself

"I-I'm sorry, I'm just shocked"

I sit on the couch and try to calm myself and let them continue their talk, I feel that if I say something, I'll just make myself more angered

Sona has a troubled expression

"I see, so that's what happened"

"That changes everything we thought untill now..."

Shinra says it while looking through the rest of the documents on her hand

"That bastard, to think he would have gone so far as to infiltrate our school, unforgivable!"

Saji declares raising his fist, but Sona lifts her hand signing for him to stop

"Control yourself too, Saji. However Rias, do you honestly believe that this is the absolute proof that he is in this school? Aren't there any other possibilities?"

I lift my head and look at them, Buchou still has the same sad expression, but I want to hear what Sona is saying, if that guy is in our school then he is a threat to everyone that could happen at anytime, I want Buchou to be mistaken, even though I know it's wrong, I want it.

"But the other possibilities are just as bad aren't they?"

Rias answers and Sona closes her eyes after thinking for a while

"True, he's either in this school or he investigated us, that would also be very troublesome"

What? I don't want to believe in that too! Investigating us? Does that mean he knows about our personal information? That's really bad too!

Buchou then sighs

"Or worse: He could have allies that told him who we are"

I freeze in fear after hearing this, an ally? By allies she means more like him? No way, one has already caused so much trouble, if there's more... then what would we do?

"Hey, hey, why does it seem like our only options here are bad ones?"

Saji says in a scared voice

Sona reveals a bitter smile

"Truly, it seems like a bad joke where all our options are terrible ones, maybe have him infiltrated in our school truly is the best choice, at least like this we know where to look for him"

"If he doesn't find us first..."

Rias answers with a gloomy expression

All our options seem to range from bad to worst

The atmosphere in the room is completely tense

I don't know what to say, I thought I was doing well in my fight against that guy, but once my armour was off, I saw the injuries he was able to do and I don't know how the fight would have ended if he hadn't fled.

Fled...

Why did he ran away? If he wanted he could have...

"We died in there..."

We turn around to the door where the voice came from

It's Xenovia!

She is holding herself against the doorframe, she's still recovering from the beating she took and can barely stand, even if the physical damage is healed, the exhaustion, mental stress and spiritual damage will take longer to recover

"Xenovia-san! You shouldn't be out of the bed yet!"

Asia scolds Xenovia, but she simply holds Asia's hand

"Asia, I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you, even after depleting my whole power I couldn't..."

She's starting to cry

"It's okay, I'm not hurt, actually, thanks to you and Ise-san I was the only one who wasn't hurt, thank you very much!"

Asia is such a good girl, even when we are mourning our defeat she's still smiling and comforting us

And yet, that asshole said her name, he knows who she was and he tried to hurt her. I won't forgive him.

She then takes Xenovia back into her room

But Xenovia was right, we died in there, I can't shake the feeling that if that thing wanted, we would all be dead

Thing...

I still have trouble thinking about that as a human. What was with those clothes anyway? A plague doctor is so weird, was he cosplaying or something?

Akeno-san lets out a long sigh and speaks up

"What are we gonna do now Buchou?"

Buchou's hand's finnaly stop shaking, she takes a deep breath, picks up her cellphone and starts dialing

"We should talk to onii-sama about this new threat, maybe he has some idea of who is behind it, but first I'll get in contact with Azazel and ask him what he knows about it. Since yesterday it seems like he is hiding something from us."

Buchou goes out of the room, guess that is one those phonecalls where privacy would be needed

"I'll go with her too"

Sona-kaichou walks out of room after her

With both gone, the subject dies out, none of us wanted to talk about it

But then Saji sits by my side

"So, Issei, how was it?"

"Leave them alone Saji"

Shinra-fukukaichou scolds him

"C'mon Shinra-san, don't you wanna know how it was too? Rias told it was bad, but didn't said anything about the fight"

"We shouldn't bother them with it"

"Yeah, but what if we ever have to face that guy one day? Wouldn't you wanna know what we are up against?"

Hearing his words Shinra seems conflicted, well, I can't blame them, if it was Sona's peerage in our place I also would wanna know who did this and how

He then looks at me

"Was it really that bad?"

"...Like using a paper gun against an armored truck"

Koneko-chan says it with a sad expression

Saji got surprised by her words and showed a sad expression as well

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way..."

I try to muster a smile

"Don't worry Saji, I would also be curious if I were in your place"

"Yeah, it's just hard to believe one guy did this to all of you and we don't even know how, I just wanted to know what he did..."

I put my hand on my forehead

"I wish I could tell you Saji, but I sincerely don't know, all I know is that he had an extreme amount of power and a technique that allowed him to control everything around him, even our attacks and even interfere in Asia's healing"

Saji's eyes widen at my explanation

"Wow, t-that's really serious, no wonder you all have that face. I have never seen you guys like this"

"Indeed, it is hard to believe in what happened, that thing must have been a real monster to take you all down by himself, I speak not only as a friend, but also as someone who has fought against you in the past"

Shinra-fukukaichou says this with an analytical gaze

"Yeah, if you guys had it that rough, I imagine what would have happened with us..."

Saji has a worried expression, I can see that he is not only concerned about our well being, but also about the school and his friends as well

"Hey, Issei, tell me... do you think that if we teamed up we would be fight against it?"

He says it with the eyes of someone who is longing for a good answer, if this was a normal situation I would probably respond with something like 'If we teamed up there's no way we would lose!'

But now, as much as I want to say something encouraging to Saji and the others, it would feel like I'm lying

"Geez, no need to say anything, your face already said it, this bad huh?"

"Yeah..."

I sigh and we all fall in silence again

This defeat was probably the most bitter one we ever faced. When we fought against Riser we had everything against us: Numbers, firepower and experience, when we fought Loki for the first time we were litteraly facing an evil god and it's monstrous creation Fenrir, but now...

Now we are 9 devils defeated by a single human, we had our formation, all of our members and we were completely ready to battle, there's no excuse, I still can't believe what happened

"Koneko-chan"

Akeno-san breaks the silence

"I trust your judgment as much as anyone else in the club, but are you absolutely sure of what you felt?"

Akeno-san is asking if Koneko is sure that what we just faced was really human, everyone seems to be asking her this, even I asked her if she was sure

Koneko lowers her gaze

"Y-yes... I know it's hard to believe, but his flow was that of a human, even if his aura and power were of something I had never seem before..."

Akeno-san covers her face with her hands

"Then it's true, even though I said I would fight with all my strength, I couldn't do anything against him..."

Akeno-san used the lightning power that she used to hate against that thing, but it seems she wasn't able to harm him. That just shows how powerful he was.

Sanji and Shinra have sad expressions, if it's hard for us to take this defeat, then as our friends and rivals, they must be feeling the same pain, maybe even worse

Buchou and Sona-kaichou then walk back in

"Azazel said he wants to talk with us tomorrow, said he was sorry he didn't warn us before but now he'll make things clear for us"

"Azazel-sensei knew about it?!"

Saji asks and Sona answers while adjusting her glasses

"I had my suspicions, he has been acting eerie in the last few days"

So sensei knew what was happening? Moreover, why do we have to wait? We want answers now!

"Why tomorrow? Isn't what just happened an emergency? I mean, we don't even know what he might try next and since he's in our school, then sensei should talk to us right away so we can deal with it, right?"

I say what is on my mind, but Buchou sighs

"I know Ise, I also told him that, but apparently, he doesn't know everything himself, he said that he will talk to a friend who, according to him, knows everything about what we just faced"

Is there someone like that? So the force we just got stomped by isn't completely unknown? That makes me kinda glad, but I'm still mad at having to wait untill tomorrow to know about it

"There is... someone like that? W-who?"

I ask in disbelieve

Buchou puts her hand on her forehead

"Azazel is making a mystery out of it. Frankly, even in this situation he's still hiding things"

"Though there's nothing we can do for now, let's hope that Azazel's friend will clear things out for us"

Sona says

"Then I guess that's it, we'll gather again tomorrow afternoon, Azazel will bring his 'friend' over and we'll hopefully understand what's going on and who's behind all this"

"Needless to say that we'll also be here" - Sona states

The injured are still in need of care, so I decide to keep Asia company while she heals them, Buchou decided to stay as well, but the others went home.

Tomorrow...

The day we'll find out for sure who is the threat to this town!


	15. Reflections

I'm laying on my bed trying to understand what happened, trying to make sense of what I saw

Xenovia's eyes, Kiba's words, Issei's determination

They were all of someone who legitimately wanted to protect what was precious to them, not that of a monster nor a demon

Xenovia, the way that even on her last legs she still stood up to help her companion, she even mentioned a promise to protect Asia

Rias' exclamations about how she would not forgive someone who hurted her servants

This is not the behavior of a demon, if anything it's the behavior of what I would call ...

A hero?

Living among espers and heroes I met a lot of people who were like them, I can even say that those demons showed me a behaviour far more heroic than that of some so called "heroes" from the past

Maybe I was wrong, maybe not all demons are evil creatures...

I mean, since I came to this town they did nothing bad to anyone

Maybe just like there are good humans and bad humans, there are good demons and bad demons, and I happened to cross ways with the good ones just now?

There is still a lot for me to learn about the otherworld, I took hours of consideration just to think about it . This would go against everything I know, but I can't think about any other explanation

Agh...

I shove my head against my pillow

But is it really true? Or is it just wishful thinking?

I already fought against demons who looked human, but none of them acted the way Rias and her servants did, what made them human in my eyes was their behavior, but is it really enough to tell if they are good or not?

And even if they are not evil, what should I do?

It's not like I can just pop up from nowhere and say 'Hey, I'm the guy who almost killed you yesterday, sorry about that, can we be friends now?'

Also, I was not thinking about that during the battle, but what about the dark devil? Kuriko said that I would meet a devil that would change my view on demons, but I did not see anything resembling a dark devil among them

What the fuck is a dark devil anyway? When you hear the expression 'Dark Devil' you will inevitably think about an extremely evil existence or at least someone with an incredibly big dark aura and killing intent

But Rias and her followers had none of it, unless we are talking about Rias' red and dark energy, but I doubt it's that

I sigh

Guess that until I know what to do I should keep a low profile, hide my powers and just observe, if they haven't hurted anyone yet, I do not think they'll try it now.

In fact, they seem to have taken the job of fighting the bad demons, so I think I'll leave this work for them too...

Eventually, I will be sure of who they are and what to tell them... I hope

Untill then, guess I'll just watch from a distance, I decided to try normal lifestyle in the first place wasn't it?

Yes, it's not like I came to this town to hunt, however, it's actually me who has caused all the fighting in the first place.

Oh wait, what am I going to say to Ayumu then?

Even if I make a compromise with myself, it's not possible to simply tell her what I saw and expect her to leave it like that. Calling her to this town might also be too dangerous, would she even be able to live in peace surrounded by all these demons? I know that it's going to be hard for me, so it might be even harder for her...

Just breathing the air of this town is weird, every inch of it permeates demonic aura, I've been doing my best to keep it under control, especially in my house, but what would she do if she were around it?

Ah... what I'm gonna do?

* BEEEEEP *

My alarm rings

I spent the whole night worrying about this, I did not get any sleep

Aghh, I'm really not into the mood for school, I don't even wanna look at those demons, I'll call it sick today.

I turn off the alarm and lay down again staring at the ceiling

Dark devil...

Who the hell are you?


	16. She noticed

The noise of an elevator resounded as it stopped to open the doors and a girl emerged from within

Steps started to echo through the hallways as she walked towards a room filled with high-tech equipment, she wore a formal dress and her silver-white hair and jewelry reflected the lights of the well lit hallway

Automatic doors swung open and she went inside, upon seeing her, a voice nervously called

"Liliana-sama! You have to see this!"

"What is the urgency Manaki?"

"You told me to warn you if any noticeable esper activity happened around the devils territory, so look at what we got in Kuoh town"

"Uhm? Is that..."

"Yes Ojou, a huge wave of ESP energy, I warned you as soon as we detected it"

"You did a good job Manaki, this is Rias Gremory's territory is it not? I didn't know she had interest in espers as well, I thought her peerage was already complete"

"It is, they are up against Sairaorg in a matter of weeks if I'm correct, but I don't believe the princess knows anything about espers"

"Interesting... what could the Crimson haired Princess of Ruin be hiding?"

Just as the two girls were pondering about it, the automatic doors swung open once again and another girl walked in

"Liliana-sama, a phonecall for you"

"Mayumi, who is it?"

"It says it's the fallen angel governor, Azazel, are you expecting news from him?"

"Oh lord... couldn't he have called at a better time?"

"Ara, do you want me to ditch him?"

"No, no, he wouldn't have called me if he wasn't really needing something, you can give me the phone"

The girl takes the phone and speaks in an annoyed tone

"Dark Devil Casino, it's Liliana here, what do you want Azazel?"


	17. Contact

The phonecall ends, Rias seemed really angry, guess I shouldn't have tried to hide it from them, but I didn't think they would get into battle so soon

As the leader of the fallen angels I, Azazel, never had any real experiences with espers, but there sure are rumours about how dangerous some of them are

Frankly, who could imagine we would ever have to worry about espers in our territory... times sure are changing

Well, I promised Rias that I would explain everything to them, but in fact I don't know much.

So I told her I would bring a friend of mine, actually, I thought about contacting her as soon as I suspected it, but if I was wrong she would never let me hear the end of it

It won't be so hard to convinve her to come, she's really interested in espers. I guess we could say that the way I feel about sacred gears, she feels about espers

I pick up my telephone and dial her number

It rings only a few times before someone picks it up

"Dark Devil Casino, how may I help you?"

The voice on the other side is not her, but rather one of her servants

So she still uses her workplace as her HQ? What a workaholic...

"Hello, Mayumi! Long time no see!"

"Ara? Azazel-dono, is that you?"

The soft voice on the other side answers on a confused tone

"Yup, that's me. Listen, there has been a bit of a situation over here and I need to speak with Liliana, is she over there?"

"Uhm, this might be a problem, Liliana-sama is here, but she's busy at the moment. Is it important?"

"Yes, it's actually very important for her to know about it, something weird has happened in the town I'm currently working at and we gonna need her help"

Mayumi's gentle tone turns serious after what I told her

"Is it related to the Khaos Brigade?"

Just like most of the High-class devils, Liliana and her peerage have been busy dealing with the terrorists as well

"No, at least I hope not, but could you please call her?"

"Uhm, okay, hold on a minute"

The call goes mute for a few seconds and then I hear another voice from the phone

"Dark Devil Casino, it's Liliana here, what do you want Azazel?"

Ugh, what a way to welcome an old friend

"C'mon, don't be like that"

"Like what? The only reason you would be calling me instead of dad or mom is because you need something from me that you can't tell them."

I smirk, she is as sharp as always, better get her interested before she hangs up on me

"Well ya know, remember when you told me once about those espers from an especific family? Their name was Kageyama, right?"

"Y-yes... what about them?"

"If I told you I have one of them right here on Kuoh Academy, how fast would you come over?"

There's a silence on the other side of the line

"Azazel, if that's a joke you better stop right there, I'm not in the..."

"Tatseyo Kageyama, son of Shigeo Kageyama and Tatsumaki 'Tornado of whatever', he is right here in this school and it happens that he came into conflict with Rias Gremory's peerage less than an hour ago"

Another silence follows

"A-a-are you serious? So that's what Manaki was talking about..."

"Uhm? Did you notice anything over there?"

"No, it's nothing! Are Rias and her followers alright?"

Something seems fishy about what she said, but I decide to let it slide since that's not what I called her for

"I'm surprised, why do you think they lost the fight?"

"There's no way a Kageyama would lose a fight to them! They are the among the strongest espers in history!"

She is right, apparently Rias and her peerage suffered a crushing defeat by the hands of that brat Kageyama.

"I don't like admiting it since I am their sensei, but you are right, the Kageyama boy did a real work on them, not even together they were able to defeat him, not even the Balance Breaker Sekiryuutei"

"Amazing, as expected of the Kageyama espers! But why did they fight anyway? If Tatseyo is studying there he wouldn't have simply attacked them, don't tell me Rias deliberately attacked him?"

"No, nothing like that, in fact he was the one that attacked first"

"W-what? Why?"

"We have no idea, just as we have have no idea as to why he let them go"

"He let them go?! They didn't escape?"

"No, that's one of the things that's eating my students from the inside and that's why I want you to come"

"I see, all of this is indeed very weird... so you want me to shed some light on them?"

"Well, it's actually more than that, as you know, there are not a lot of people in the underworld who know about the existence of espers, Rias included, so she is desperate trying to find out who was the one that kicked their butts and she thinks I can give her an explanation. Seeing that you are the only person I know who is really interested in espers, I thought you and your friends could pay us a visit and explain it all to them and maybe... well, I was thinking about handing the situation to you, since they already have so much in their hands"

"I understand, but wait a minute, so they don't know anything at all about Tatseyo? You just said they had a fight and are at the same school."

"The boy has been hiding his presence ever since he arrived at the academy, so they haven't noticed anything abnormal about him yet, and when in battle it seems that he was wearing some sort of disguise and not even Koneko-chan, the Nekomata, was able to tell who he was besides the fact that he was human."

"Disguise? You mean a black robe with a plague doctor's mask right?"

This girl, she really knows her stuff

"Yeah, how do you..."

"Kyaaah! I knew it! Tatseyo-kun hides his identity by using those clothes! It's kinda weird, but so coooool~!"

She is talking like a fan-girl!

"So, will you come?"

"Of course! Tomorrow at dusk, Kuoh academy right? Expect me and my peerage!"

She hangs up. Now I'm more worried about how Rias and her will get along, I didn't had much choice, but I hope calling her was the right decision


	18. The esper specialist

School is finally over, to be honest, I couldn't really focus on class because of what happened yesterday

But today, Azazel-sensei said he and a friend would clear all our doubts about that

I'm really looking forward to it, everyone seems gloomy after that crushing defeat

Xenovia, Buchou, Akeno, Koneko, everyone is acting eerie. Only Asia is behaving normally, I guess she is just too cheerful to be affected by the danger we were exposed to

After Kiba and Rossweisse woke up, Buchou explained to the ones who were knocked out why the situation we had been exposed was so dangerous

'Unknown'

Those were the words she used to describe it, the force we faced was not only overwhelmingly powerful, but also unknown, and that's what made her so afraid

She was afraid for us, her servants, afraid she was going to lose us. Buchou really is a kind woman.

Gods, Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, legendary creatures, Sacred Gear users, in every battle we had untill now, no matter how powerful the enemy was, we at least had an idea of what he was and what we could do about it.

But against that thing, that human, we had no idea. His energy and combat style were completely different from anything we had faced, it was like being crushed and pushed around by an invincible force.

I guess even devils tremble at fear of the unknown...

We pack our material and hurriedly make our way towards the occult club, Irina is coming with us

"Rias told me what happened yesterday, I am so sorry I wasn't there to help"

Irina didn't went with us because it was a mission for the Gremory peerage against stray demons, the aliance's permission only extends to her when we have to fight directly against the Khaos Brigade

"Don't worry Irina, honestly, I don't know if you would have made much of a difference in the fight, we don't even know what kind of power we are dealing with..."

I say trying to comfort Irina

"I know, but if I could just have helped Xenovia and Asia I would be happy"

"Don't worry, Ise-san and Xenovia protected me, it's thanks to them that I'm fine!"

Asia says it with a smile, Irina smiles back and then looks at Xenovia

"What about you Xenovia? Are your wounds completely healed?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Asia's sacred gear helped me make a full recover"

Xenovia says it trying to smile back at her friends, but she doesn't seem happy at all

Even Durandal's full power wasn't enough to bring him down, for what she told us that thing played around with a legendary sword as if it was a toy. For Xenovia who puts a lot of trust in her power-type combat, this must have been a huge shock

We get inside the club room, everyone seems to be here already, the Sitri peerage and the rest of the ORC are gathered across the room, Azazel sensei is on his desk

"Hey Azazel, how long is that friend of yours gonna take?"

Buchou angrily asks Azazel, she is probably the one who wants answers the most

"Don't worry, she'll be here soon, she wants to clarify this situation as much as you want, so trust me, she will come"

We get in and sit down

I look at Kiba and Rossweisse, they seem fine now but they were the ones who took the most damage in the fight.

"Kiba, Rossweisse, I was so worried! How are you feeling?"

Irina asks as she leans forward to hug them

Kiba gives a refreshing smile and Rossweisse laughs

"We are fine now Irina-chan, thanks for your concern"

"Thank God, when Rias told me what happened I got so worried that I prayed to lord Michael watch over you"

She makes a pose as if she is praying, this girl can be so energetic, even in a situation like this

"I'm also glad to see you two are back to health"

As soon as Kiba sees me he makes a serious face and looks down

"Ise, Buchou told me that you got injuries even though you were with your armor"

"Yeah, that guy's power was no joke, I got some damage but in the end I was alright"

"And Koneko said that he was a human with no sacred gear at all, sincerely, just what the hell was him?"

"That's what we are all here to find out..." - Azazel interrupts

"Who is that friend of yours anyway? A fellow fallen angel?"

Saji asks sensei, but he shakes his head

"No, she's a devil, I'm pretty sure Rias and Sona might have already heard about her"

"So it's a woman huh?"

Buchou asks throwing a glance at sensei, he then shrugs

"Yeah, I might have spoiled the surprise a little..."

Oh, so it's gonna be a girl? Is she a pure-devil like Buchou and Kaichou?

"But even if you say it... there's no way we can guess with just that..."

I stop to think for a while, but I can't think of anyone we know that could be related to what happened to us

Rossweisse turns to Buchou

"So you told Irina about what happened?"

"Yes, Irina is not only our friend, but in the face of an unknown threat we must spread information about it to as many reliable people as we can."

I see, if the power of that thing was able to take us down, then it could represent a threat to the angels and fallen angels as well

[Ah frankly, the Gremory clan worries too much, is it because you are the sister of the Maou?]

!

This voice, I look at the door and aroud the room

But no one else is here!

Everyone starts searching and looking around but there is no one else besides us

Rossweisse even opens the windows to see if there's anyone outside

[Fufufu, confused? It's to be expected]

The voice is coming from inside our heads!

"Where are you? Reveal yourself!"

Buchou shouts

[Ara ara, quite daring of you seeing how you just got defeated and already want to fight again]

"Reveal yourself immediately!"

A red aura envelops Buchou's body, woah scary!

"Wait, Rias, this voice, I recognize it from somewhere..."

Sona says it with an analytical gaze, but Azazel-sensei speaks before she can finish

"Stop with that Liliana, you shouldn't be using Mayumi to mess with people's minds like that"

[Buuuuh, you really are no fun Azazel]

What? The voice knows sensei?

""Li-Liliana?!""

Both Buchou and Kaichou say with a surprised expression on their faces

*OPEN*

The door opens and four beautiful women and an old man make their way inside

The geezer and two of the girls are laughing loudly while another one has a hand in front of her mouth covering her giggles, only the glasses girl of the bunch has a neutral expression

Who are they?

Azazel sensei puts his hand on his forehead, he seems troubled

"Frankly, to think that you would already start things like this, you sure know how to make an entrance..."

The girl who Azazel just addressed has long silver hair and golden eyes, she's almost the same height as Buchou and seems to be slightly older than her and Akeno-san, maybe around the age of Rossweisse.

But what called my attention the most is her dark skin, a brown tone that reminds me of Katerea Leviathan from the Old Maou faction, are they related somehow?

She just keeps laughing while answering Azazel, she has quite a flashy appearance, with ornaments and jewelry on her arms, neck and ankles. She has the looks of a foreigner.

"Hahaha, sorry Azazel, you know we had to do it, the look on their faces was priceless, ahahahaha!"

A tall woman with red eyes who looks like an amazon laughs too

"Hahahahaha, to think that they tried to stand against a member of the Kageyama family, that's just precious! Hahahahaha!"

Tsk, what are they talking about? Their laughing is starting to piss me off

A girl with purple hair and delicate features, who was holding back her laugh when she came in, speaks to her friends while looking at me

"Ara ara Liliana-sama, I think that the Sekiryuutei is starting to get mad at us"

What? Did I said it out loud?

"No, you didn't, I just happen to have a very good hearing, fufufu."

Again! How is she doing it?

"You still haven't realized yet? You sure are slow aren't you?"

She says this without taking her smile out her face

"She's reading our minds Ise"

Buchou explains it

"Ara ara, as expected of the Crimson-haired ruin princess, you saw right through my trick, ufufufu"

What! Reading our minds? That's her power?

"Very well, I guess it's time for introductions"

Azazel sensei stands up and walks between our groups, he stands next to the dark skinned girl

"Rias Gremory, this is Liliana Caim, heiress of the house of Caim."

The girl proudly points at herself. I've never heard anything about the house of Caim before, but I can see that they all seem rather strong

"That would be me! And this is my peerage!"

She then prepares to introduce us to the other three girls and to the old man who are all standing by her side

Their appearances are very distinct but they have one thing in common, a mysterious air that surrounds them, even though I feel no malice from them

But most importantly...

All the girls are very beautiful! They have really nice breasts too!

I can't help shift my gaze down so I can steal a glance at their oppai, but just as I'm doing it

"Ara ara, so this is the legendary oppai dragon? I'm gonna get mad if you keep having dirty thoughts about us..."

Crap! I forgot that the she can read minds!

"Disgusting..."

The glasses girl who untill now had not said a word says this, I'm sorry for being lecherous!

Liliana stands between us and her peerage and gestures towards the purple haired girl with matching eyes

"Ok, so this girl who can read minds is my [Queen]: Mayumi Kanagawa!"

"Pleased to make your acquantaince"

She gracefully bow towards us, shit, I can't help but notice how pretty and delicate she looks!

"Fufufu, thank you!"

She says it while looking at me

I can feel Buchou glaring daggers at me, then I feel a pinch on my ear

"What exactly were you thinking Issei?"

A woman who can read minds is a huge problem for a pervert like me!

"Ah Buchou, it's not what you were thinking!"

"Calm down princess, he was just thinking that I'm pretty, you shouldn't be jealous of a middle-class devil like me, fufufu"

The girl answers it with a smile, she's clearly enjoying this! And did she just said middle-class devil? So she's a rank higher than me?

"Ahahahaha, it sure is good to be young! Hahahaha!"

The old man with a white beard suddenly starts laughing, that's not funny!

"This reliable geezer here is my [Bishop]: Henry Galard!"

"Nice to meet you, young ones"

He says it while stroking his beard and giving a laugh, this old man is short, has black eyes and wears an attire that seems to be a classical noble's clothing. His carefree attitude reminds me of the norse chief god, Odin

"Be careful geezer or you might end up having a stroke"

The tall woman with long white hair who looks like an amazon says it to the old man

"This strong woman is my [Rook]: Diz "

" Yo "

The girl simply says it while making a V sign with her hand, of all the members of the bunch, this woman is the one who gives me the strongest impression, even though she's a woman, she's way taller than me and I can clearly see her toned muscles, she definitely gives off the air of a [Rook]. She's even wearing pants and a leather jacket that make her seem even more like a deliquent

"And last, but not least, my [Knight]: Manaki Ishida"

"Can we just end this and go home?"

The girl with long blue hair and glasses seems annoyed. She has red eyes just like their [Rook], which contrast even more with her blue hair. She has a poker face and a cold attitude, if it wasn't for her words it would be pretty hard to read her

Buchou then stands up and greets our new guests

"It's a pleasure to meet you, we have heard a lot about you"

Liliana makes a surprised expression

"Oh, have I become so famous that even the sister of the Maou knows who I am?"

"I have the dream of reaching the top of the rating games, so obviously I would know who you are, you too, right Sona?"

She turns to Kaichou, who nods

"You are a rising star ever since you debuted in the youth games of your generation, of course we would go through you during our research about the rating games"

Liliana makes a pouty expression

"Mou, hearing 'games of your generation' from a highschool student makes me feel like an old lady, but I'm also happy to be so famous that both Maou's sisters know about me"

Sona's peerage and the older members of Buchou's peerage seem to be on the same page as her, but me, Xenovia, Asia, Irina and Rossweisse don't understand what they are talking about. I never heard about Liliana Caim or her peerage, are they really that famous?

I get close to Kiba and whisper

(Sorry, but who is she?)

He turns to me with a nervous expression

(We can explain it later, but summing it up, she is quite a celebrity in the underworld and has won all the rating games she has been in)

(I-I see)

All the games? Damn, so if we are aiming for the top of the rating games then she'll obviously be an obstacle in our way

"You are famous in the underworld after all, and by what your [Queen] said, I take it you already know who we are right?"

"Of course, the whole underworld knows the famous peerages of Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory..."

The girl then takes a pause and smiles before continuing

"...And I think everyone would be really disapointed if they discovered how the crimson princess and her warriors were all humiliated by a human just yesterday fufufufu!"

Buchou makes a click with her tongue, everyone has the same angry look on their faces, she is taunting us for our defeat! She's got some nerve this Liliana!

"Hahaha, c'mon don't get so angry at me! It was just a joke, it's not like the human you faced was normal in like... anyway"

What is she saying? We know that he wasn't normal, but what does she mean by 'anyway'?

"Azazel told us you would be able to explain what happened and who that person was"

Buchou says it in a still angered tone

"Yes, yes I can. Well then, let us begin by the most basic"

Liliana then summons a notebook on the table

"First of all, do any of you know what the word 'Esper' means?"

"E-esper?"

Saji questionates

Kiba is the one who answers her

"People who are able to use psychic abilities such as moving objects with the power of their minds"

She gives a smile

"Ding ding ding! A simplistic and incomplete explanation, but correct either way"

"Are you saying that what we faced was an esper? That's ridiculous, they are urban legends"

Buchou interrupts Liliana's explanation. I've already read and watched movies about espers and I always thought that they were urban legends too, but to be honest, I also thought devils and dragons didn't exist just a few months ago. So I don't see any reason to not believe that espers might also exist.

"It is true that are legends regarding them, but they are just legends, right?"

Liliana reveals a mischievous smile and asks

"Are you sure of it? What do you think about this, Mayumi?"

We shift our gaze to look at her [Queen], but she is not here anymore! When did she left?

"I never left, I'm right here"

"W-what? How?"

Behind us!

We turn our back and we see Kanagawa-san with a smile on her face

"Well Rias, as a devil you should be more open minded, actually the thing is... Mayumi, do it"

Liliana orders and the elegant girl lifts a hand in the air and everything in the room starts floating! Including us!

"Woah, put me down!"

I scream! It's like the gravity has been removed from the room, everyone is floating!

"Yay! Higher, higher!"

Irina-chan! Stop acting like a child in a situation like this!

"I-I'm getting dizzy!"

I hear Gasper's voice from inside one of the floating boxes, hey, when did you got inside that?

"I think that's enough"

"Yes, Ojou"

After Liliana said this, the girl claps her hands and everything is put back on it's place, even the objects who were flying around are put back at their rightful places

Liliana then stretches her arm pointing at her servants and declares

"The thing is: My whole peerage is composed of highly skilled espers!"

W-what? This is absurd! All of them?!

Azazel sensei speaks up

"That's why I brought her here, she's probably the one who knows most about espers in the whole underworld."

Buchou seems very shaken, the levitation just now caught everyone off guard

"S-so, espers are real, I've already heard about how dangerous some of them are, but to think that not only they did exist but that one of them would appear in my territory."

Sona is no better

"So they were not just legends... what a frightful existence..."

Liliana, on the other hand, seems truly excited

"YES! But that's not all there is to it, the one you all happened to meet yesterday was no less than one of the strongest espers in history!"

What? From all the espers we could meet, our first encounter was with someone who is labeled 'One of the strongest in history?'

"And who was he? Stop playing around and tell us!"

Xenovia asks, she probably wants revenge for what happened, no, all of us want to do something about it

Liliana looks at Azazel with a confused expression

"So, they really have no idea, huh?"

Azazel shrugs

"I would have told them, but I think it's better if you explain it"

She then puts her hand on her chin as if she's thinking about something

Then she snaps her fingers and smiles

"Very well then!"

She opens the notebook and turns it to an empty wall

"Ok, now pay attention"

From the notebook a large hologram is projected on the wall opposite to it and a video starts playing

*SCREAMS*

Woah, right in the start of the video there are buildings being destroyed, cops, soldiers and even military tanks, the people seem to be looking and pointing somewhere

The video seems to have been filmed by a professional camera, the logo of a broadcasting channel can be seen on the bottom left and there's a text that occupies the bottom of the screen that reads

'S rank hero Tatsumaki saves the day!'

Tatsumaki? Who is that?

*CRASH*

Suddenly the sound of something collapsing can be heard and the camera switches focus

!

A huge serpent like creature is destroying buildings as it passes! It's enormous, larger than a skyscraper! And flies and jumps crashing everything on it's path

Worse! It can fly as well!

BOOOM!

The tanks and military open fire at the creature, but it doesn't seem to be taking any damage

An attack helicopter approches it from the air and starts shooting at it

The snake attacks and bites the helicopter!

It's crushing it on it's jaws!

But suddenly...

The snake opens it's mouth wide, like it was opened by force!

The helicopter, that in it's current state should be incapable of flying, starts floating in the air and gently lays on the ground!

Soldiers come out of the helicopter, they seem unharmed

The camera zooms in a small figure flying close to the snake

A small girl with green hair is floating on the air with what seems to be a green aura around her

What is she?

The snake coils around a building and charges at the little girl!

*BLAM*

!

The girl lifts one hand and a huge truck comes flying at the creature's head!

The serpent drops to the floor, but it doesn't seem to stop

It pierces the street and goes underground

The girl lifts her hand in the air and the ground breaks as the serpent is pulled out of it, then it floats high in the air

After that she closes her hand

WOW!

The creature is compressed like it was nothing! All 100 or 200 meters of it are reduced to a ball of scales and blood!

The girl then floats along with the ball, places on top of the military truck which was really close to the cameraman filming the situation

I can see her much more clearly now, she's a small girl, with green hair and a black dress, but what attracts me the most about her is the eyes, aside from being of a beautiful green color, those cold eyes have an analytical and stern gaze that seem to be staring down at you, I swear I saw it somewhere before...

She talks to what it seems to be the leader of the military forces, he makes a salute to her, she seems to be rolling her eyes and really mad at him, she then flies away while people are heard shouting words of love and praise to her

The video is cut off and then appears a man and a woman who seem to be anchors of the broadcasting channel whose logo was on the video. The man says:

"Our cameramen were fortunate enough to get this footage of an attack that happened this afternoon in K city. The S rank hero, Tatsumaki, also know as "Tornado of terror", saved the town in seconds from a Dragon level threat monster"

Wait, Dragon level? I really don't like the sound of this...

The woman then says

"It is good to know that heroes such as her are watching over the constant threat of monsters attacking our cities"

The video then ends on a black screen

We look at each other, none of us understood what happened

Buchou is the first to speak

"What was that? Who was this girl?"

"That was Tatsumaki "Tornado of Terror", she is one of the strongest espers alive, her telekinetic abilities are something that are yet to be measured"

Kiba asks

"How can such a child be so powerful?"

"Well, that's the funny thing, she was 28 when this video was shot"

WHAT, 28? She looks 14 at the most!

"You know, a long time ago, before you and I were even born, when the three great powers were too busy killing each other to even give a damn about the human world, people like her were responsible for protecting mankind, there was a group named 'The Hero Association' who gathered talented people from all over the world to protect the human society against monsters and demons, this girl was one of those heroes"

I gulp down before asking

"Heroes like the hero faction?"

I can't help but associate the two names, but Liliana gives me an angered stare

"Don't even compare the two things! Tatsumaki-sama is a real hero! She was considered one of the strongest creatures in the world before her retirement!"

Creature?! Was this girl so strong that they put her on the level of a creature?

"And why did they just went out of the map? Why there is no longer any register about them?"

Sona asks and Liliana sighs with a sad expression

"After most of the monsters had been killed or driven away and after the three factions started making systems to hunt stray demons, evil spirits and monsters themselves, the Hero Association started to decay and wasn't anymore all that necessary. Obviously heroes like her had a lot of enemies, so they used all of their resources and influence to make sure all the records and memories of people like her were turned into urban legends, there are many espers around the world, but they are all hiding and working under the radar"

"So there were people like that..."

Sona says it and Buchou looks at sensei

"You were hiding this from us, weren't you Azazel?"

Sensei shakes his head

"No, I obviously knew about this "Hero Association", but I only knew about these espers because of Liliana, there are many humans around the world that hunt supernatural beings and I was always focused on sacred gears, so I didn't exactly payed attention to how exactly the non-sacred gear users were doing it"

Buchou doesn't seem to be exactly believing sensei's explanation but Liliana intervenes

"Don't blame Azazel princess, most existences in the underworld don't know anything about espers, it's not exactly all the espers that fight against the supernatural and those who fight don't exactly leave evidence behind"

"What do you mean by it?"

I ask, she just said a rather scary thing

Liliana gives an impish smile

"Exactly what you are thinking, there are weak espers in this world just like there are weak devils in the underworld, but those who don't want to fight can just live a normal life. However, if an esper is strong, or if he become strong, and decides to fight against the likes of us, there are only two ways it ends: You either die or you'll somehow escape but have no clue of what happened, just like you guys"

Everyone has a terrified expression listening to what Lilianna just said

"W-wait, so even now they are still hunting us? Thought you said they had retired!"

Liliana nods her head

"And they did, but as I said, there are still many young espers around the world, their powers allow them to sense the supernatural and battle them, a lot of espers work for money or just for fun, hunting and exorcising, devils, monsters, youkais and the like. Frankly, there are even some youths who came up with a motto: 'Strike First, Strike Fast, Strike Fiercely', they call it 3SF"

After saying this Liliana starts laughing by herself

"Sorry, sorry, I just find it kinda cringy, so I can't help but laugh when I say it out loud"

Buchou ignores Liliana's remark about the scary motto we just heard and asks

"The one who was hunting us was paid for that?"

Buchou asks, but Liliana shakes her head

"I don't think so, but I also don't believe he was doing just for the heck of it. I think there was something else behind his motivation"

"And what was it?"

She shrugs

"Guess I'll have to figure it out"

So she doesn't know...

"The point is, Tatsumaki was actually a rather big exception of an esper who received the spotlight, most espers who actually get famous disguise themselves as mere exorcists or psychics who just read the future and see spirits, so most people don't know about them"

Buchou sighs

"Alright, I understand, but is this girl connected to what happened?"

Liliana smiles

"Actually she is, for you guys to have a better idea, check this other one"

"Another video? Can't you just tell us who are dealing with? You know who he is, right?"

Xenovia says it

Liliana sighs and puts her hand against her forehead

"Yes, I do know who he is, but you lot didn't know about the existence of espers untill yesterday, if I simply tell you about it the chances of you believing in me are low, but if I show, you might get the message better"

The video starts playing, again a lot of military personel are around the camera, but this time there are also people on white clothes that appear to be scientists or doctors.

They seem to be surrounding a mountain area. This time there is no broadcasting logo or anything of the kind, just a timer on the corner of the video

*TREMBLE*

The ground visually shakes and smoke starts comming from one of the mountains

One of the men dressed in white comes in front of the camera and looks at a watch on his wrist

He then looks at the sky and speaks at what seems to be a transmiter

"It should be soon, is lady Tatsumaki ready?"

Another voice coming from the radio speaks

"Yes I am! Could you idiots hurry this up already? I wanna go home!"

This is the first time I hear her voice, it really sounds like that of a child, and a bratty one to that

CRECK CRECK

"It's now, record it! Record it!"

The scientist points at one of the mountains, the camera zooms in there and we can see that the mountain is starting to crack

Then suddenly

*BOOOOOM*

The mountain and a large part of the floor explodes and a smoke covers the area

From the smoke a large shadow starts to emerge

HUUUUUGE! It's bigger than the mountains surrounding it!

When the enormous silhouette leaves the smoke we can finnaly see what it is

An enormous reptile-like creature, it looks like a dinossaur, but it's too huge!

I've never heard of a dinossaur like this one!

"I am the Ancient King! I've been awakened of my slumber and now that the other kings have been defeated it's the Terror Lizard Clan's turn to rule over this world!"

The monster can talk?! What the hell is up with it?

[I see, so it's that guy...]

Ddraig speaks so everyone can hear

[Yes, it's him indeed! How interesting!]

Saji's Vritra also spoke! What's going on?

"Ddraig? Do you know that thing?"

"Yeah Vritra, you said something too, right?"

[Partner, that creature is the Ancient King, one of lizard kind's last survivour, his power was probably on the level of a Dragon King when he ruled over the land. Apparently, after the dinossaurs went extinct he went into sleeping for millions of years, I didn't knew he had already woke up]

"So you knew him Ddraig?"

Azazel sensei asks

[Yes, though we never got close to fighting, this creature ruled over the dinossaurs for millions of years and was a strong competitor even to the dragon race, it is not an opponent to be taken lightly.]

[The red one is right, this guy was a mounstrous existence, there were even Dragon Kings who wanted nothing to do with him]

"S-so he was that kind of existence?"

Saji asks with scared eyes

"Hahahaha"

Liliana laughs at the dragon's words

"What is it?"

I ask her, Saji also looks at her with curious eyes

She points at the screen and says

"Just keep watching"

Several machines shoot missiles on the creature, to no avail

The scientist speaks

"We are now leading the target towards point Bravo"

Then another voice answers him, it seems to be coming from some sort of communication equipment

"Understood, we are in bound and on schedule. We'll shortly be on top of Bravo"

A plane flies over the area and from it a small figure comes out, it's the same girl as before, Tatsumaki!

She flies out of the plane and lands on the ground right in front of the creature

"What is she doing? This is suicide!"

I hear Buchou saying, I understand, even from a screen I can feel the huge pressure that the monster gives, it's much stronger than the monster on the other video

"Shhhh, this is one of my favourites!"

Liliana speaks like she's watching a movie, is she even taking this seriously?

The girl looks like a tiny dot close to the monster

"And who are you?"

The monster asks the girl

"Why is she not doing anything?"

The camera zooms at the little girl on the ground, she is...

Talking on the phone?!

She's talking on the phone with her back turned to the monster! Does she want to get killed?

[So that's how much confidence she has on her power]

[Truly a frightening existence]

"Ddraig? Vritra?"

" " " " " "Fufufufufu" " " " " " "

All the members of Liliana's peerage are laughing at the remark of the two dragons, I look at Buchou and the others, they not only seem surprised, but nervous as well, we don't know what to expect from this.

"Huh, who are you?"

The monster speaks after noticing the girl

We can't hear what she is saying, but it seems like she's still talking on her cellphone while ignoring the monster

"Weirdo?"

The monster asks. Huh? Did she called him weirdo?

"Listen well! I am the Ancient King. As ruler of the dinossaurs who once ruled this planet, I stand above all the other lifeforms..."

Tatsumaki turns to the monster and it seems like she's yelling at him, she just interupted that thing's monologue! What's with that bravery? She doesn't seem scared at all of that huge monster in front her!

The monster lowers it's head to look at her.

"Are you done now?"

The monster seems to have lowered it's tone!

Are they... talking to each other? They actually seem to be exchanging words! Event though we can't hear what the girl is saying

Suddenly the monster lifts it's head again

"Act brave while you can little runt!"

It's tone rises again, now it seems really mad!

*STOMP*

He stomped on the girl! There's no way she...

Wait, the huge monster then looks to his left, the girl is floating right next to him!

"Amazing! I didn't even see her moving"

Kiba says that, so not even our fastest member could see her movements? Damn, espers sure are scary beings

"So you aren't totally helpless"

The monster says looking at girl

"But if you intended to do something against me, you're gonna need something at the level of a huge meteor to do it, kid"

Meteor?

[He's probably talking about the thing that made him go into hiding millions of years ago]

Ah, I see, dinossaurs were killed by a meteor after all...

Woah, the monster opens it's mouth and a huge energy starts forming on it, like Tannin ossan's fireball!

There's no way a human can survive that!

But before the creature can unleash the blast...

DOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge meteor falls on top of it! An enormous crater is formed on the ground!

And the monster is dead! The next closeup shows its enormous skeleton completely roasted on a crater on the ground!

The video ends with Tatsumaki flying out of the scene, with the scientists and soldiers cheering at her

[So that's why I didn't heard about his awakening...]

[Frankly, to think that one of my rivals would be slain like that... what a shame]

Reaaaally? That's all you gonna say about it?

"What? What was that? Where did that meteor came from? She destroyed that huge creature just like that?"

I can't keep quiet anymore, does this mean that the man we fought could have done this to us if he wanted? Espers are monsters!

"H-how she did that? No magic in the world can do what she..."

Buchou seems confused and scared

"That's the beauty of it Rias, that wasn't magic, it was psychic! I want to show you these videos so you can understand better what you are up against. The man you faced yesterday had a power comparable to hers, in fact, there's one last video you guys need to see"

"What? Another one?"

"Yeah, we're getting fed up with this! If you know the name of the guy who attacked Hyoudou and his friends then tell us already!"

Xenovia and Saji say angrily

"Xenovia, Saji, please understand, I think I see the importance of this now"

This time it was Buchou who answered Xenovia

"...Buchou?"

"Do you remember when we watched the videos of the other devils' rating games so we could better understand them? This is no different, I want an explanation as much as you want, but I believe these videos can give us something that mere words cannot"

Yes, Buchou is right, I wouldn't believe that a human could have this level of power if someone were to simply tell me that, if Liliana believes that there is more for us to see before she can explain things, then I'll believe her.

Sona nods her head and speaks to Saji

"It's true, this videos allow us to analyze the enemy, weren't you worried that we could get into a fight with him without knowing anything, Saji?"

He then scratches the back of his head

"Eh... well it's true, but..."

Liliana smiles

"Finally you understand! Don't worry, this will be the last one, after that, I'll answer any questions you may have"

She presses a key and another video starts playing

This one is much different from the others, the camera is definitely an amateur, probably from a cellphone

The scenario is some sort of town, but the place is completely trashed, there's wreckage everywhere, cars upside down and a strong wind seems to be blowing, looks like a hurricane just passed

Then the camera starts moving and zooms on what actually seems like a hurricane, a strong gust of wind and energy that's flowing in the center of the street

!

It's moving! And there seems to be someone inside of it!

The camera zooms in and we can see a figure covered by a dark-colored overwhelming aura with it's hair floating upwards inside of the hurricane

The creature turns it's head and stares at the camera!

[What the hell is this thing? Are you feeling this as well, Vritra?]

[Yes, what a fierceful power! I can hardly think of a word to describe it]

I hear them saying

But I can understand it , when I look at my hands I find out that I'm shaking!

This is amazing, even if it's just a recorded video, I can still feel the enormous pressure that the thing gives!

"...Monstrous"

Koneko-chan says that, since she's the most sensible about energies she must be feeling much worse than me

The man holding the camera screams in panic, turns it's back and starts running

It's the end of the video.

"W-what was that?"

I am the first to questionate what I saw

"That was the other strongest esper alive. One day, an accident happened and made him completely lose control of his powers for a moment, not even the japanese security forces were able to stop him, he destroyed an entire section of the town just by walking through it and he was only fourteen when this accident happened, today he is much stronger"

WHAAAT? Fourteen? Scary! That was really scary! Espers are definitely monsters!

"The accident ended just as misteriously as it began, no one knows exactly what caused it"

This time was Kanagawa-san who said it

"And what his name is?"

Buchou asks

Liliana-san smirks

"That's the great surprise of the day"

Surprise?

"You know, Tatsumaki is a woman and the boy in that video is now a grow up too, and by some fate they actually met and became a couple, do you know what is their family name now?"

She says it with an impish smile

"The boy's name is Kageyama Shigeo, from Seasoning City and now Tatsumaki is Kageyama Tatsumaki as well"

!

Everyone in the room gasps

What?

"Ka-Kageyama Shigeo?"

Buchou speaks as to confirm what she heard

"You mean the same Kageyama as in Kageyama Tatseyo?"

Xenovia asks

Liliana smiles, is she finding this situation funny?

"Ding ding ding! You are right! He's now much older and powerful than when this video was shot, but he's still the same Shigeo Kageyama"

"So are you saying that the woman and this man..."

Akeno-san seems nervous and Liliana answers right away

"They are Tatseyo's parents!"

What? No way! There's no way Tatseyo is a monster like them! He sure looks scary, b-but...

"This is impossible! Kageyama-kun is in the same class as me, Xenovia, Asia and Irina, we would have felt something if he was this powerful!"

I can't believe what she said, someone as powerful as him was that close to me this whole time? He could have killed me like that monster if he wanted to?

Liliana looks at me with an annoyed expression

"Idiot! Do you think someone as powerful as him wouldn't be able to hide his presence if he wanted to?"

"B-but not even Koneko-chan..."

I look at Koneko-chan, she's looking down with a sad face

"I'm sorry Buchou, sorry Ise-san, even if I am nekomata, I couldn't..."

Liliana lifts herself from the chair and looks seriously at Koneko-chan

"Don't blame yourself, you were not only dealing with a power unknown to most devils but also with something that could rival even the strongest among us"

That doesn't seem to have worked much, but Koneko does look a little less sad

"O-okay"

"You say they are his parents, but in Tatseyo's register there was nothing about Tatsumaki, in fact, his mother had a complete different name in there, but I take that it was a fake name was it not?"

Buchou asks with a hand under her chin

"Yes, Tatsumaki-sama had many enemies during her career, so everytime she registers for something, she uses one of her many fake ids"

"To think it would even bypass us..."

Sona speaks with a sorrowful expression

"Hey, you guys aren't thinking of expeling him are you? That would be very suspicious, he would know that you figured out his identity"

Buchou shakes her head

"Of course not, not only he would be suspicious, but the other students would too. We wouldn't do something so reckless"

Liliana nods saying 'good, very good'

"Now tell me one thing, did any of you saw Tatseyo's aura?"

Me and all the other members of the Gremory peerage nod

"What color was it?"

I tilt my head in confusion

"Well, how do I explain... it had many colors"

Akeno-san agrees with me

"Blue, orange, green, red, purple, yellow, it seemed like something out of this world"

It's true, his aura didn't had a definitive colour and instead was like a multicolored show moving around him, that was a first time of seeing something like that, which only made him an even scarier existence

"I see... so he got it from his dad, huh?"

She says something with a smile on her face, but she almost whispers it so I can't listen

"What did you say?"

"No, nothing, it's only useful to me, don't worry about it"

Only useful to her? What is she talking about? But before I can start to elaborate on that, Buchou calls to her

"Liliana-san, do you have any videos of Kageyama-kun?"

"No, unfortunately he's the kind that avoids the spotlight, BUT!"

A magic seal appears on her hand a magazine materializes on it

"Now, just let me see"

She starts going through the pages of the magazine

"HERE! Found it!"

She then opens it to us

The headline says "Child of Tatsumaki and her husband, Shigeo Kageyama, is finally born! People wanna know what the future reserves for the newborn celebrity"

"But there's not even a photo on this headline"

I ask her, it's really weird, the only picture is one of Tatsumaki's face, but there is none of Shigeo or Tatseyo

"Well, no one in the family is actually interested in media, so there are no photos of him. Just a rumour about the suit he uses when on duty..."

"A crow suit..."

Buchou says, Tatseyo was using a black robe with a crow's mask when he attacked us last night

"Yes, to be more precise it's a plague doctor's suit"

"So, that was the work of an esper? To think that we would be targeted by those people now of all times..."

Everyone in the room looks at Xenovia, what? She knows about espers?

"Xenovia-san, do you know something about them?"

She sighs before answering, after what Liliana said she seemed to be much calmer

"When I still worked with the church there were rare occasions were the church's power wasn't enough, in those times a special group was called, people refered to them as "Espers", they were a really closed community and even the church was afraid of their powers so they were only called when the situation was totally out of hand."

Irina them joins Xenovia's explanation

"Yes, even though we never got to work with them, people talked about them like they were urban legends, we thoguht 'Espers' was just a nickname to them, no one knew exactly who they were but all we knew was that they were really strong"

"W-Wait! So why you two didn't said anything?"

Xenovia puts a troubled expression and Irina puts her tongue out and scratches the back of head

"Simple, we didn't believe on them, sorry ~ ~"

What?!

"Like Irina said, Espers are something of a urban legend, all we know about them is their legendary power of exorcism"

Exorcism? Are you talking about the power that can completely erase a demon?

"E-Exorcism? What do you mean?"

Xenovia shakes her head

"I don't know the details, all I know is that they could kill creatures in a way we never could"

Liliana-san, who untill now was looking with interest at Xenovia, says

"I know what you are talking about"

"Eh? You do?"

Everyone turns to look at Liliana-san

"Then please, explain to us!"

She looks at us and says

"Well, a thing that most espers have in common is their power to contact the spiritual world and most of them can use their powers to exorcise evil beings such as ghosts, youkais and us, demons and fallen angels through their powers, that's why I said that espers don't leave evidences behind"

That's it? So they are not much different than the priests then...

"Well, priests also have that power, it surely is dangerous but..."

Liliana then lifts a finger

"BUT! Unlike priests and holy swords, all an esper has to use to cause spiritual damage to us is the power of their mind, which means we could be killed by a simple wave of hand or slap from one of them"

WHAT!? Is that true?

"I-Impossible..."

Buchou says it with a worried expression

"What a monster..."

Sona speaks

"WAIT! Then why do you have your whole peerage composed of espers? Aren't they a threat to you as well?"

After all she's a devil too! Exorcism powers are definitely trouble for a devil!

The amazon girl clutches her fist at me with a furious expression

"Oi, you better watch your words brat!"

Uahh! Even thought she's pretty she has a really scary expression! And her big body is really intimidating!

Liliana lifts her hand in a sign to stop

"Don't sweat it Diz-chan, they are beginners after all. For your information, Sekiryuutei-chan, I trust my servants with my life. What's more, I also have something quite fantastic..."

Fantastic? Now she got me curious...

"What is it?"

"Not telling!"

Ugh! She's really getting on my nerves

"What are we supposed to do then?"

Sona asks and Liliana gives us a thumbs up

"Don't worry, from now on you can leave this to us! For starters, could you tell me where Kageyama-kun is right now?"

I shake my head

"Sorry, but he didn't came to class today"

Liliana's expression suddenly drops at my answer and it looks like she's really mad! Was it something I said?!

"Eeeeeeh? What is up with it? Even though I came all the way here! Azazel, you told me he would be here!"

Sensei shrugs

"I told you he was studying here, it's not my fault if he decided to slack off today"

"Whaaaaat?! How dare you! Rias Gremory, if I find out Kageyama-kun didn't make to school because of your peerage I won't forgive you!"

Wahhh? What is she saying? It was we who nearly got killed yesterday!

But Buchou pays no heed to her complaints and simply answers

"If you want to see him that badly I can give you his phone number, he registered it in the school form"

"Kyaaaah! Are you crazy? There's no way I can call Kageyama-kun so out of the blue when he doesn't even know me!"

Yeah, she's right, specially on a situation like this, though I still can't think about how she plans to explain things to him.

"I understand, sorry"

Buchou says

Liliana-san then pulls out her cellphone

"Okay, tell me"

"Huh, tell you what?"

"His phone number!"

"But didn't you said..."

"Just because I can't call him now doesn't mean I can't have his number! Please just tell me!"

Eeehhh? Why is she acting like a fan-girl? Shit, having a beauty like her interested in you when you don't even know her! Damn you Tatseyo! Go to hell!

Buchou gives Liliana the phone number, she seems much happier now

"Fufufu, well, now that this is solved, it's still a problem having an esper as strong as him in this town, specially if he thinks you are his enemies, Azazel, could you come with us for a while?"

"Wait, Liliana-san, I have a question for you as well"

Sona-kaichou asks

"Oh, and what is it?"

Liliana says tilting her head

"You said that all the registers about the existences of these heroes and espers were erased, destroyed or descredited, so how do you own all these esper related things? And why are you so interested in them?"

At Sona's question, Liliana reveals a fox smile

"Fufu, smart, you noticed it huh? Well, I have contacts in the esper community, that's all I can say for now, as to why the espers, let's say that I have a special bond with them, guess it's just who I am"

She then turns her back

"If you don't have any more questions, we'll be leaving now, please refrain from having contact with Tatseyo-kun untill I manage to talk to him, alright?"

"How are we gonna do that if we are on the same class as him?"

She waves her hand

"I'm sure you'll figure out a way, also, I don't think he's going to attack you while in school, secret identity and all. And I'll try to my best to contact him as soon as possible, so it won't be long. See ya"

Liliana walks out of the door and Azazel sensei follow after her and her peerage.

"Frankly, what a weird girl..."

Buchou sighs

I turn to her

"Buchou, Sona-kaichou, when you were talking you said that you knew this Liliana, but I never heard about her"

Buchou puts her hand against her forehead and answers

"I'm sorry about it Ise, but while doing research for the rating games even before you and Asia joined us we had already come across Liliana, after all, she participated of the youth rating games of the generation before us. Me, Sona and our peerages at the time watched her play against the other youths, so of course you and the others didn't knew about it"

"I see, so she participated in the games of the youths who came before us right?"

This time it was Sona who answered

"Yes, and she's even participating in the professional games now"

I then remember Kiba's words to me

"H-hey, Kiba, didn't you said that she never lost a game?"

He nods his head

"It's true, right Buchou?"

"Right, so far she has only taken part in 5 games, three in the youth league and two in the pro league, but she had a landslide victory in all of them and was rated quite high, which is also a surprise considering how incomplete her peerage still is"

Five victories? W-well, it's not a very large number, but I don't thing we can say anything about it, so far we only fought in two rating games and we lost our first one.

"Attaining victory with only 4 pieces, and it's said that she only used one evil piece for each servant..."

What?! So her peerage is still that incomplete? It's not even halfway done and she already attained so much?

Sona-kaichou sighs

"One of the reasons she was rated so high was because of the unusual powers and tatics of her peerage, now I know why."

"What? So the reason she was rated so high was because of the abilities of the espers?"

Sona adjusts her glasses and answers

"It would be foolish to say it was only because of that, even if it's a power that a devil has never seem, you are still going to lose or receive bad ratings if your team is not powerful and your tatics lack, their mysterious power might have aided her, but it's wrong to attribute her victories only to that. It is said that she makes her servants work really hard and actually trains them, that must be why they are so strong even if they only required a single piece... well, maybe the fact that they are espers helped on it too."

Buchou agrees

"Liliana is considered a genius even among high-class devils, unlike me and Sona, she had an devil's education, even so she was able to graduate from college at 16, by that time she had already members on her peerage"

She graduated college at 16?! Isn't she like a prodigy or a super-genius?

"Wow, she really seems a hard working girl..."

Rossweisse sounds impressed, oh right, she was also a real hard student among the Valkyries wasn't she? Guess that makes them alike

"After that, she started participating in the rating games. Many devils looked down on her because her team was composed of 'nobodies', but as you know now, she proved them wrong"

I see, well, espers aren't know in the underworld after all, so of course her team would be looked down

"When she received permission to have her own territory in the human world, she did something really drastic and choose an area far away from the territory of her parents, some say it was because she wanted to prove that she can fend for herself, some say it was because of family issues, but no one knows the exact reason. But she managed to stablish herself and now she even has thriving businesess on her own territory. Her peerage is also taking part in the fight against the Khaos Brigade"

I see, well, if they are strong then of course the Underworld will ask them to join the fight

Buchou then lifts a finger as if reminded of something

"Oh yeah, I've heard that she even used her own nickname in her main stablishment"

I tilt my head

"Nickname?"

Rias nods

"Yes, Liliana's nature has also rendered her a nickname like mine"

"Dark Devil..."

I hear Sona saying it in a serious voice

"D-Dark Devil?"

That's one scary nickname!

"Yes, her fame of being a ruthless prodigy rendered her that nickname, though I think the color of her skin played a part on it too..."

I see, one of the first things that called my attention on her was her color too

"H-hey Buchou, is she related to Cattleya Leviathan somehow?"

Since kaichou mentioned her skin, I think it was a good opportunity to clear one of my doubts

But Buchou shakes her head

"No, many people also used to think about it when she wasn't well know, but one of the Caim familiy's attributes is their darkened skin"

I see, just like the Gremory's Crimson hair...

"So they are part of the 72 pillars?"

I hear Xenovia asking

"Yes, there is a rank called "Great President", it is the only house who doesn't hold a title that refers to classic nobility. They hold great influence in the underworld's matters, even if it's just acting on the backstage. Actually, they hold a great influence in this world as well, I'm surprised you never heard about her"

"Uhm? She's famous in the human world as well?"

"Yes, just like the Gremory has business in the human world, Caim also has many investments in the human world, because of that she has gained some fame in the human world as well"

So there is something like that, they seem to be important people

"Uhm... I see, yet I still can't remember to have heard about her before"

Buchou continues

"Well, it's not a suprise, their businesses are aimed at a more... grown up audience"

"G-grow up audience?"

Ideas start to swirl up in my mind, so that's the kind of business that the Caim family commands? Ahhh, I really wanna know it!

"Ise-senpai is making a pervert face..."

Gasper points it out, was it that obvious?

"Haha, sorry Issei, but it's not what you are thinking about, they are mostly involved with things like the gamble, smoking and drinks industry"

Oh, I-I see, so it's that type of grow up entertainment. I have no interest in that!

"Ouch!"

I feel an elbow in my ribs, Koneko-chan!

"...Pervert"

"S-sorry, Koneko-sama"

Though I'm disapointed, I can understand it now. If she was involved with ecchi things in the human world I would have know her know for sure, or at least Matsuda or Motohama would! We are the pervert trio after all! But if she's involved with things like that there's no way we would know about her.

The door opens and Azazel comes back alone

He doesn't say anything and sits on a chair, Buchou crosses her arms on her chest and asks him

"So they left?"

"Yes"

"And what was decided?"

"You don't have to worry about the Kageyama kid anymore, that girl might like to provoke, but she knows her stuff"

Xenovia hits her fist against a desk and stands up

"So we are going to just leave it to her? There's no way I can be satisfied with just that! Buchou, you understand me right? What he did to us..."

"What he did to us was terrible Xenovia, I know, but what do you think I should do?"

Buchou answers firmly, but there is no anger in her tone, in fact, she seems really sad

"I more than anyone want to take these deal in my hands, but I have to understand my limits, not only for myself but also for you"

I nod my head

"I understand Buchou"

As much as it pains me, I know that as we are now, we have no chance against Tatseyo. A bad feeling, the same feeling of weakness that I had many times in the past shows up again, shit! I had with this! I hate this feeling!

Little by little everyone in the room nods their hands and agrees with Buchou's decision

"Let's leave it to Liliana, alright Xenovia?"

Irina grabs Xenovia's hand

"Alright, I understand"

Xenovia breathes out and seems to have calmed down

"We'll become stronger so we won't lose to the likes of him again, alright?"

I ask her and she gives a smile

"Okay..."

Buchou then gives Azazel a mean stare, I can see that she didn't like the reunion so much, in fact I think none of us was satisfied with the result, after all,

"So... how did you two met?"

Azazel sensei leans on his chair

"It's funny actually, one day my investigation about sacred gears and her research about espers ended up leading us to the same place. During our conversations we discovered that I feel about Sacred Gears the same way she feels about Espers, heh, guess people with weird obsessions tend to attract each other"

Please don't say such a creepy thing so casually!

I sigh and we all look at each other

"So, what we gonna do next?"

Just as Buchou is about to answer me, all of our cellphones ring together

"Uhm? What's this?"

Everyone picks up their phones

"An allert?"

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Hey Buchou do you..."

I look at Buchou, but her face has gone pale

"S-seriously?"

Sona-kaichou has also an expression of disbelieve

"Honestly, at a time like this..."

"What happened Buchou?"

She puts her hand against her forehead

"The Hero Faction has arrived here"

"W-what?!"

I exclamate with my eyes gone wide

The Hero Faction, a group of the Khaos Brigade consisting of Sacred Gear users and descendants of the brave heroes, it has been said that they attacked other devil territories but they arrived here already? And in this situation?

Sona sighs

"They want to meet with us, they said they will be waiting for us in this address"

Sona shows us Kuoh town's map on her phone, there's an area marked in red

"W-wait, why are they giving us their location?"

Saji asks her

"Most members of the Hero Faction are sacred gear users, their leaders are sending their soldiers to territories belonging to devils and fallen angels in order to awake their balance breakers. Rias and I knew we would be targeted soon since we have the Sekiryuutei and Vritra with us, but to think they would arrive in this kind of situation..."

"So that's their objective..."

They wanna use me and Saji to unleash the full potential of their members

"But should we really head there? Couldn't it be a trap?"

I ask Buchou

"But what other choice do we have Ise? We can't leave them in our town"

Yes... Buchou is right, even if it's a trap we have no other choice but to check it for ourselves.

"Looks like we ain't gonna get a break anytime soon..."

I sigh

"Rias, do you have a problem with my peerage tagging along?"

Buchou nods her head

"No problem at all, in fact it's better if we all fight together to get information about these new enemies"

"So what are we waiting for? I'm aching for a fight already!"

Buchou smiles at Xenovia's words

"Alright, ORC and the Student Council, let's show to these heroes what the devils or Kuoh town are made off!"

"""""ALRIGHT!"""""

Everyone declares loudly

I've decided, I'll take this feelings of frustration and use them to rise even higher!

We might have lost to you Tatseyo, but we are still strong and we're going to become even stronger!

Afterword: So she's here! The dark devil, Liliana Caim! Sorry about taking so long to post this one, but this was the longest chapter I've written and creating her character was a real piece of work, I wanted to make her different from the other female canon characters from DxD, which is hard since there are so many, so I decided to make her into a teasing and flashy, but responsible and almost gangster-like character, to contrast with Rias' kind type of leadership and Sona's strategistic style.

Also, I wanted to give her some hereditary physical trait, the Gremorys have crimson hair, Bael has purple eyes, so what should I give her as a trait of her family? Well, at first I thought about giving her horns, but Roygun blew that idea up. And one day, as I was browsing some arts, a glimpse came to me and I saw what should have been obvious: Dark skin! Really, I think Ishibumi doesn't likes brownies very much, that Leviathan from the Old Maou Faction was the only dark skinned female character in the series and she only appeared for like one episode/chapter, so I went for that.


	19. To save a hero

Ah, it's night already! I spent so much time thinking about what should I do about Rias and the other devils that I ended up doing a bunch of nothing the whole day

Not even shopping, so when I went to make dinner, I realized there was no food...

Right now I'm making my way back from the convenience store, it was the only place that was open at this time of the night, but it should feed me until I can buy more from the market

DOOOOM

Hum? I can feel a surge of energy not very far from here, I can tell without a doubt that it belongs to them.

Rias, Issei and the others, yes, it's definitely theirs

Maybe they are fighting again?

I want to resist the urge, but I really want to see what's happening, maybe if I can help them, we can clear the misunderstandings?

Well, even if not, I can still stay around and watch, right?

I go towards the direction of the energies

An abandoned factory, in a currently deserted area of the town, man this sure is a depressing scenario

The energy is coming from the inside of the factory, I can feel the presence of other demons in there, as well as other energies, it must be their enemies

But something is not right...

I go inside the factory, careful to not have my presence noticed.

BOOOOOM! KAAAA!

Damn, now this is a fight! Rias and her servants are jumping and flying around while shooting aura and swinging their swords

That Irina girl! She has her wings out, but unlike the others, they are not demon wings, they are made of white feathers and she has a halo over her head!

So she's an angel, I knew that her holy aura wasn't normal! It's the first time I'm seeing an angel, but why is she fighting alongside them? Well, maybe it's just like I thought and these demons aren't bad after all

FREEZE! BREAK!

The members of the Student Council are also here! They are using new techniques like water beasts, a blonde boy using lines of energy and dark flames and there's a girl who is using mirrors to reflect their opponents attacks!

All the demons from Kuoh Academy have gathered in this one spot, this enemies must be quite something

But the ones who they are fighting against...

Who are these people? They don't seem like demons or anything of the kind

The enemies figthing in the premisse also use a variety of flashy attacks, bows of light, flames and one of them manipulates the shadows to attack, defend and even send their attacks in other directions

Even so they are having a bad time, not only they are outnumbered, they are severely lacking in power compared to the other side

I can sense their power, but most of all...

No... that's not possible.

I can sense they are human!

W-w-what?

No matter how I look at it, these guys are genuine, total humans!

What the fuck?! No, I can't let this happen

'Listen Tatseyo, using your powers against people is wrong, never do it unless to protect someone or if you have no choice left. Once, a smart man told me that it's okay to run away, so don't worry, fighting humans should always be avoided.'

Father's words ring into my head, I can't let them hurt humans!

I look at the battle as it intensificates, aura assaults, elemental attacks and intense figthing fill the abandoned factory, at this rhythm, this humans are going to... die?

No, no matter the reason, I can't let this happen!

*Dash*

I charge in the middle of the battlefield, using my barriers to hold the attacks from both sides

"Stop, everyone!"

"Hold fire!"

The leaders from both sides yell and the attacks cease

I look at the devil's side, they have confused and scared expressions

"Ka-Kageyama-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious Ise? He's probably at the side of the hero faction!" - Xenovia exclamates

Hero faction? So these other guys are heroes?!

There are heroes in this town? Real heroes?

"Everyone be careful, that's Tatseyo Kageyama"

A girl with short black hair and glasses says this, she seems to be the leader of the student council group

"S-so that's the Tatseyo you guys were talking about huh, he really does look scary..."

The blonde boy says, but I ignore his insult

"What are you doing! Why are you attacking humans?!"

I ask them

Xenovia steps forward

"We heard everything about you! Esper isn't it? No matter who you are, if you side with the Hero Faction you are our enemy!"

"Xenovia wait!'

Issei shouts

So they know I'm an esper now? Who told them that? Was there someone spying on me? Well, not that it matters right now

"Is it true, are you with the hero faction?"

Rias asks

I take a quick glance at the battered and injured humans behind me, of course I am at their side! I am at the side of the heroes, mom was hero, auntie Fubuki was hero, I have friends and teachers who are or were heroes!

I nervously turn towards the humans who are staring at us

"Y-you! Are you real heroes? Why are you here?"

One of them lifts a sword and says proudly

"We are the Hero Faction, we are descendants of heroes and yuusha who are here to slay these devils!"

So it's true, well, there are heroes still working even after the decay of the Hero Association, but to think they would be in this town...

"Who sent you and why are you fighting these demons?"

Another man answers

"Our leader has sent us and we are here to save this town! During all of history it has been the job of heroes to slay demons and dragons, we don't need a reason to kill them, evil existences are supposed to be terminated by us, our abilities are a gift to slay the evil"

"Heh... hehehe"

I laugh a little at this guy's words, it kinda matches a bit with my philosophy doesn't it? Truly, a hero doesn't need a reason to act against evil

I turn towards the demons

"So that must mean you are enemies of the heroes, right?"

Rias folds her arms and answers

"These so-called Heroes are alligned with the Khaos Brigade, you don't understand the situation, we have to eliminate them"

...

What did she said?

Eliminate them? So they are... killing heroes?

"Even you angel-chan?"

I ask Irina in disbelieve, even the angels are involved in this?

She has a sad expression

"Yes... but you don't understand, they are the evil ones! They are not real he-"

"SHUT UP!"

My voice makes the devils and heroes alike freeze

No

No

NO!

Mom, aunt Fubuki, Watchdog, Genos, Blast...

"So you are enemies of heroes? Hahaha, that's all I needed to hear..."

Nice demons? As if that could exist..

I was fooled by their good will to each other, I was careless and naive! If it wasn't for these heroes, I would have let them run amock and they would be going around killing humans! I knew there was no way that there are good demons in this world!

Maybe this is a punishment, a sign from God or the Universe to show me how careless I was, obviously someone like me wouldn't be able to live in peace when there are demons all over this town, this is what happens when you try to deviate from your responsibilities. But I won't commit this mistake again!

Demons or Angels, I won't let any threats to my family and friends live in this world!

"Hey heroes, please leave now, I'll take care of things"

"Huh, what are you saying?" - One of them asks

"I told you to leave! Sometimes it's okay to run away!"

I make the whole building shake to show I'm serious

"I am the son of Tatsumaki, you must know this name, don't you? Leave now or you will get hurt too!"

One of them makes a serious face and warns his friends

"Let's leave, he must be a reinforcement from Ophis. I can see that he is strong, so let's leave it to him"

Thank you, though I don't know who this Ophis is

A seal appears and they get ready to transport

"I won't let you!"

Issei charges towards the heroes while Rias shoots a block of energy towards them

"Don't touch them!"

I push Issei against the ground and block Rias' energy

"Thank you, my friend!" - Is the last thing the heroes say before they leave

Finally, now I can fight without holding back!

"You bastard!"

Xenovia charges at me with her sword

I block it and push her away

I know that making heroes run away from a fight is something that shouldn't be done

I remember the words from _that man_

 _'If the heroes run and hide who'll stay and fight?'_

Yes, heroes shouldn't run from a fight, but for now...

97%

DOOOM

I throw Issei against Rias, who was preparing a new attack

CRACK!

And destroy the ice shards, bullets and swords that Kiba, Akeno and Rossweisse shot against me

98%

...Just for now, let me fight for them!

"Hey, you said that you know everything about me. So you must know that since there are no more civilians around, I can finally..."

99%

I don't care about what happens anymore!

"LET MY EMOTIONS TAKE OVER!"

Strike first! Strike fast! Strike Fiercely! The way of the Esper!

[ ANGER 100% ]

My aura grows and I unleash my full power!

"DIE!"

Afterword: Tatseyo finally goes 100, I was thinking about making this chapter an Issei pov about their fight and leave Tatseyo's interruption for the next chapter, but in the end I decided against it, if you read the LN ( you probably did if you are here) then you know how the fight between them was like, I was just going to add some extra scenes with the Sitri peerage on it and some extra thoughts, but I decided it was just going to seem like a direct copy and wouldn't make sense to write all the figthing that you might have already saw just to make Tatseyo interrupt everything for the real fight begin. Having said this, in the next fight Tatseyo will use his full strength against the Gremory and Sitri peerages together


	20. What is 100?

Beforeword: This chapter is an extra that I wrote because it seems that I didn't make clear enough how Tatseyo's and Mob's methods to control their 100% states are different, it will be very brief, forgive me for stretching this, but I think that if someone didn't understood, there may be other readers who also didn't. I'll also take this opportunity to explain more the relationship between Ayumu and Tatseyo

"Hey, Ayumu-san! Can we eat with you?"

A group of girl friends come join me on my table

"Sure"

They sit and one of them stretches her arms as if she's exhausted

"Phew, finally the training for today is over!"

"Yeah, esper training sure takes a toll on you, huh?"

"It sure does, geez, I wonder how you can be so energetic even after that, Ayumu"

I look at them with my mouth full, I answer after swallowing the rice

"Ah, I really like all the training, the greatest problem is the theory classes and the regular ones, my brain just can't keep up with it..."

"Ah, as expected! Ayumu really is a power-brain!"

"H-hey! I'm not that!"

Geez, they are teasing me again, it's not like I wanna be like this! But fighting with my power is so much better, of course I also have to think of techniques and control, otherwise I can end up hurting myself with my own power...

"Hahaha! But it's not a big problem, right? You are powerful after all, they even let you tag along with the son of the Kageyama couple, with your power and your [Skill], you really are one of the most powerful espers around here"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess I am..."

Thanks to the powers I have and my [Skill], I'm considered a high-class among the espers, but even so I had to work hard to control my powers, since they are kind of unstable and dangerous, they have brought me many troubles in the past...

They munch on their dinner and one of them speaks between her bites

"But I really wanted to see Kageyama-kun using 100% of his power, I've heard people say it's really amazing"

*Cough, Cough*

"Eh, Ayumu? Are you alright?"

I choked a little on my food after hearing what she said

"Cough, yeah I'm alright, but regarding what you said..."

I take a sip of my juice

"Hmm? About Kageyama-kun?"

I nod

"Trust me, you don't wanna see him going 100, it's really scary"

"Scary how?"

I clean my mouth with a napkin and begin to explain

"Tachan and his father have to constantly control themselves so they don't use their full power at all times, he told me that it takes a toll on him, so keeping it for too long strains his body."

"Ah, yeah, I've heard about that"

One of the girls says

"Yeah, but the thing is how they control their powers, Kageyama-san used to repress his emotions, but it didn't worked very well, he ended up exploding when he reached a certain point"

The girls' eyes wide at my explanation

"E-exploded?"

"Kyah, that's really scary!"

"I've already heard about that too! I wouldn't wanna be around if he exploded"

I nod

"That's why Tatsumaki-san and Kageyama-san found a new way for Tachan to control his power, he told me he uses some sort of concentration method along with meditation, he said it helps to keep his emotions in check just as when he's about to explode. That also means he can achieve 100% easier"

"Ah, that sure does seem better..."

"Yeah, but there is a problem too"

"What would it be?"

"Well, Tachan has to be able to realize when he's about to burst so he can concentrate when needed, he also has to be able to focus and... well, it depends on if he wants to hold back too"

One of the girls gulps at my affirmation

" _If_ he wants to hold back?"

"Uhum, Tachan still depends on his emotions to reach 100, but he's bad at controlling them, so he uses concentration and restraint just to avoid the explosion instead, which means that, unlike Kageyama-san, Tachan only lets loose on very few occasions, but if something was to disturb his balance..."

I throw a glance at them, they all seem to have understood

"S-scary..."

A girl says as she goes back to eating

"Yeah, also, Tachan most common emotion when fighting is anger, when he reaches that state, he really turns into a battle freak, torturing and mocking the enemies, I kinda don't like seeing him like that..."

One of them answers me with an impish smile

"You really care a lot about Kageyama-kun don't you?"

"Eh? I-it's not like that! We are just long time friends that's all!"

"Hahaha! You are even blushing Ayumu-san!"

"Mou, don't tease me like that!"

All the girls start giggling, why everyone likes to tease me about my relation with Tachan? We are really close, I know that, but it's natural, right? After all, everything I have, somehow I own to him.

[We can help you Yatsushiro-kun, I know it's scary, I've been where you are now, but if you trust us, we can explain and help you master this power, you won't be scared anymore if you're with us, I promise. I'll be your friend and make sure that everyone will treat you nicely]

I remember the words that Tachan told me when we first met as kids, that time he thought I was boy, but he was so kind, I'm really glad to have met him, he supported and helped me. It's thanks to him and the whole esper community that I'm able to live happy now.

As I'm dwelling in my thoughts, one of the girls says

"Leaving this matter aside, Kageyama-kun is already pretty scary without needing his powers, huh?"

Another girl nods

"Total, when he first showed up I was really afraid of even talking to him"

I sigh, sorry Tachan, looks like your scary looks don't help at making friends

"B-but Tachan is really a nice person when you get to know him"

After I say that the girls exchange looks and start laughing

"W-what? Did I said something funny?"

One of them shakes her head

"No Ayumu, is just that you are awfully familiar with Kageyama-kun, aren't you?"

"I was totally blow away when he showed up and you started calling him 'Tachan', I thought he was going to get pissed at you, but he go all embarassed! It was even cute to see, hahahaha!"

Tachan got embarrassed when he first saw me, even though it was me who called him here, I think he wasn't expecting to see me so soon, or was it because I used his nickname in front of everyone? I thought he already had gotten used to that...

Tachan, where are you now?


	21. Tatseyo's Wrath

"Are you alright, Buchou?"

"Yes, thanks Ise"

I reach my hand to her and she stands up, Kageyama threw me against Buchou to help the heroes escape and it seems to have worked, I can't feel their presence anymore, shit, why did he had to show up at a time like this?

*Badump*

A chill runs down my spine

We both turn to Tatseyo's direction, his aura increased a lot! There's an immense killing intent being directed to us

"W-what is this?"

Buchou asks, there's cold sweat on her face

I can't believe what I'm seeing...

What is this sudden surge of power?

Kageyama suddenly intervened on our fight against the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade

We tried talking to him but the heroes managed to flee under his cover

As soon as they fled, Kageyama said something about his emotions and suddenly his aura got huge, it covered his body and didn't stop there, his hair is floating upwards, his eyes became sharper with a strange glow and there's a strong gust of wind even though we are indoors

His aura... I had already saw it's colour before, but now it's huge! It's much bigger than him and the dazzling colours are dancing around, damn, it's even kinda of entrancing, how can such a powerful aura even exist?!

"I won't let you hurt mom! I won't let you hurt my friends!"

What? What's he talking about?

Wait, Liliana-san said his mom was a former hero or something, right? Oh shit!

"Kageyama-kun, you don't understand, those guys were not real heroes, they are members of the Khaos Brigade, they are the evil ones!"

GUH!

I can't move! An incredible energy is holding my entire body from moving!

"Aghh, I can't move!"

"Me neither!"

"How is he doing that?!"

It seems everyone is being held by his power!

ZOOM

My body is pushed towards Kageyama!

He grabs my head which is covered by the helmet with his hand

CRACK!

He shatters my helmet with his bare hand! And grabs my head with an extreme grip! I can feel blood running down from my forehead

I try to move and fight back but it's like hitting a wall!

"I don't have time to listen to your lies"

CRASH

Kageyama throws me like a bowling ball, I go crashing through the floor non-stop and my armor is completely shattered as I clash against the stone ground!

I hit a wall at full force and I feel like passing out, but manage to get up

Ddraig, please rebuild the armour!

[Leave it to me!]

BOOOM!

An explosion?

I recover my armour and dash towards him again

"Kiba! Kusaka-san!"

Kiba and Kusaka-san are laying on the ground, they were defeated already?

"...Sona-kaichou, I'm sorry, I was so focused in the battle that my masks didn't noticed him approaching"

Her sacred gear, [Scouting Persona], allows her to use masks as cameras to detect enemy presence, but we weren't expecting that anyone would show up since we were so focused in the fight, Koneko's senjutsu also didn't work, maybe because this guy is good at hiding his presence

She has an awful expression, she's bleeding and her uniform is torn

"It's not your fault, hang in there, we'll get you out of here"

Sona says this as she grabs Kusaka-san and flies backwards

I too grab Kiba and retreat to where the rest of our nakama are

"I'm sorry Issei, I couldn't do anything, my legs..."

Shit! I look down and see that Kiba's legs are broken! For a [Knight] who relies on speed that's definitely the worst attack he can suffer

"Asia! Heal Kiba's legs and Kusaka-san too!"

"Yes!"

Asia sends her healing aura towards us but...

Her aura changes it's direction! It's going towards Kageyama!

"Asia, what are you doing?!"

"It's not me! He's doing that thing again!"

He can change the flux of aura even from this distance? Shit, how powerful is he?

"I won't let you heal!"

He absorbs Asia's aura then calmly starts talking to us

"Oh, why are not any of you figthing? You all seemed so jumpy in that fight just a few minutes ago, what's with the sudden change? Do you only have courage to attack defenseless humans?!"

He shouts the last part and throws an aura attack at us, it's not aimed at anyone in particular so it only hits the floor, but the pressure is so big that sends everyone backwards and shatters the arms of my armour that I used to shield myself

"Shit!"

How did he became so powerful? This is completely different from the first time, he was already too strong then, but now it's ridiculous, there's no way we can fight against him like this

"D-damn, so that's the guy you were fighting against? What the fuck is up with this monster?"

Saji asks, all the members of the Gremory and Sitri peerage have the same terrified look, there's cold sweat forming on our foreheads, the pressure and killing intent Kageyama releases is enormous, it seems like he's grasping my heart just by looking at him

"He wasn't like that in the first time, was he holding back?"

Xenovia asks, holding back? He defeated us while holding back all this power? Shit, there's no fucking way we can defeat him now, even with Sitri here, this place has become a slaughterhouse

"B-buchou, what are we gonna do?"

Buchou has an angered expression and looks at Sona-kaichou

"There's only one thing we can do, I think you know what, right Sona?"

Kaichou nods

"Yes..."

Each turns to their respective teams and yell

""Run! Let's get away from here!""

Both of them scream, yes, everyone in here has realized that the best chance against this guy is running away, this time there's nothing to be gained from a fight with him, all we can gain from it is another defeat, and by the pure killing intent Tatseyo is giving, it would probably be our last one

"SCRAM!"

One of us screams and we all make our ways towards different exits but...

*CRUMBLE*

All the exits, including the windows, collapse, leaving a ton of stones covering them

"You are not going anywhere!"

[Reconstruct]

Tatseyo says this and the rubble that covered the exits fuses, turning into solid stone

"Everyone, get behind me, I'll blast it open!"

"I'll help you!"

Rossweisse and I stand in front of the thick wall that was formed, I create a dragon shot and she creates a magic circle in her hand and just as we are about to shoot

[Barrier]

Tatseyo's colorful aura covers the walls, the floor and even the roof!

Rossweisse's magic and my aura are deflected and dissipate in the vastness of the factory

"You dare to attack my fellow heroes and refuse to take the punishment? At least have some honor!"

Fuck! I look around and there seems to be no exit, we are locked inside this factory!

Buchou positions herself in front of us

"Tsk, looks like there's no choice anymore, we'll have to fight"

Kaichou nods her head

"But we still have to find an exit"

"Rossweisse, you can teleport us out of here with your magic, right?"

She nods her head

"Yes, but with this barrier, it will take a while to prepare the spell"

Buchou nods

"Sona, everyone, we have to buy time and protect Rossweisse, let's go with all we got! This a death battle right now!"

"""""Alright!"""""

"Xenovia! Take this!"

I throw Ascalon to her

She takes it with a puzzled look on her face

"We can't measure our efforts, also, you are better with swords than me"

Xenovia smiles and Saji also steps forward

"Geez, if you guys are getting so pumped up, I have to help too, right?"

"Yes, let's do this!"

Promotion: [Queen]!

During the fight against the heroes, me and Saji avoided promoting, but with this barrier that Kageyama erected, we don't have to worry about colateral damage anymore

"Hey, Saji, you can use it now"

Sona-kaichou says with a serious voice

"Eh? Really?"

He turns to her confused

"Right now we can't spare our efforts, let's use everything we got so Rossweisse can allow us to escape"

Saji gulps down but then he answers with a confident voice

"Y-yes! Let's do this!"

Saji's gauntlet glowed in a dark light

"Come forward, the power of the Evil Dragon [Vritra]!"

They are going to summon Vritra right here? I know it's an emergency, but won't Saji lose control in that form?

Seeing my concerned expression, Kaichou speaks

"Don't worry, he's been undergoing training at the Grigori, he now can use Vritra's power without losing control"

Oh? Really?! That's awesome! Saji has really evolved with the help of the Grigori!

Snakes appeared entagling Saji's legs, arms and shoulders as black flames enveloped his body, then the voice of that giant serpent spoke, even though it still hasn't appeared

[Now, my other self, let's show them what we are made of! Let my cursed flames consume him!]

"Yes, let's gooo!"

He charges foward, me and Xenovia go right by his side

"I'll subdue him with my flames! You two attack him!"

Saji's flames enveloped Tatseyo's huge aura as I used my Dragon shots at him and Xenovia swung Durandal's Aura towards him

"Let us help too"

Irina, Hanakai-san, Buchou and Akeno-san also charge, sending magic, demonic and light attacks towards Kageyama. Sona and the others stayed behind to protect Rossweisse, Asia and the wounded

BOOM! KAAA!

All the attacks hit! On our first fight he dodged some of our attacks but now he doesn't even seem to be moving, are Saji's flames really that strong? Well, Vritra is a Dragon King after all...

After the burst of attacks, the smoke dissipates and Kageyama-kun has his head lowered and seems completely dormant, did it worked? No, there's no way it would be this easy.

"D-did we made it?"

I hear Saji asking, but the voice from his gauntlet answers

[Everyone, stay back, he's not defeated yet!]

And just as we feared

"Too weak, too weak! This is useless, useless, useless!"

Kageyama-kun shouts as he clutches his hands and the flames that were holding his aura are extinguished!

"H-hey Vritra, what's going on? Weren't our flames special or something?"

Vritra's flames bear a strong curse that not even a powerful devil would be able to eliminate

He nervously asks the Dragon King and a disapointed voice comes from the gauntlet

[I see, so our compatibility is truly terrible, right, red one?]

A voice comes from the gauntlet in my hand

[This boy exorcised Vritra's curse and used his aura to subdue the flames]

"W-what?"

Everyone has the same anguished look on their faces, but before we can say anything else

"My turn!"

Kageyama declares and disappears from our sight!

"Right here!"

He shows up behind Akeno-san and Hanakai-san! They both shoot magic at him, but Tatseyo doesn't even make the effort to defend and takes the attacks head on!

This is bad, they are both bad at melee combat!

I charge the boosters on my back to attack him, but the same force from before pushes me against the ground and stops me from moving, when I look at the others, they are in the same situation

"Ugh!"

"Guah!"

Except for Akeno-san and Hanakai-san who are getting a merciless beatdown from Kageyama, Hanakai-san uses her [Appaluse Wall] to form barriers but they are shattered by his punches, while Akeno's elemental attacks are blocked and or reflected. But even if I can't move, there's still something I can do!

I point my gauntlet towards him and transfer my power to my dragon shot

[Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost!]

I shoot a massive dragon shot towards him, Kageyama looks at the shot but doesn't make even a sign of dodging or defending, instead he gives a creepy smile

"You fool"

It's all he says before my shot changes direction and goes towards...

"Buchou!"

He made the dragon shot go towards Buchou who can't dodge because she's being held down!

But even if she's down, Buchou can still defend herself, she creates a magic circle to defend from it-

DOOOM!

The shot increased in side drastically!

"Kyaaaaah!"

Buchou yells as she's enveloped in the light of my shot

"BUCHOOOOOUUUU!"

Me and my friends scream as Buchou lays on the ground without movement

CRASH!

"Three are out, now who's next?"

Akeno-san and Hanakai are also throw on the ground, their clothes are torn, and they are covered in blood and bruises

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

I yell at the top of my lungs

[Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost!]

I push my body to it's utmost limits and my body shakes as I try to stand up, but then- My body feels light again and I can stand up normally

"If you wanted to fight me, you should have said sooner, let's cut the crap already, right? You all, come at me!"

He yells as his aura shines

"You bastard, you'll pay for this!"

Xenovia shouts and jumps at him swinging Durandal, me and Saji also charge forward, Koneko, Nimura-san and Irina also attack him

Koneko, Nimura, Xenovia and me fight him at close range, while Irina and Saji use their holy aura and flames to try to subdue, but he's completely unharmed! He easily blocks our attacks and the ones he doesn't block don't seem to be working! He hasn't even moved an inch to dodge or avoid the attacks

"Hahahaha!"

He gives a gleeful laugh while taking my fist head on! It's like hitting a concrete wall!

"Take this, demons!"

"Ugh!"

His fist covered in aura hits Koneko in her stomach, she flies backwards with blood gushing from her mouth

Koneko-chan stumbles to stand up and wipes the blood from her mouth

"So you know how to use Ki in combat? That won't work on me, kitty!"

He charges his fist at my armour, I barely dodge it but his aura emits a powerful explosion that sends me backwards and shatters my chest armour!

Nimura-san makes several faints leaving after-images in the air, thanks to her Sacred Gear, [Procellarum Phantom], she's able to achieve immense speed and give powerful kicks and she also promoted to [Queen] before me and Saji, since she wouldn't cause collateral damage. But Kageyama is not even paying attention to her movements as he's busy with Irina's and Saji's mid-range attacks

Nimura-san appears right behind him and lifts her leg up and then down to give him a mighty kick!

But Kageyama lifts a finger in the air

ZOOM

Irina's light attacks change direction and hit Nimura-san!

"AGHHH!"

A loud scream of pain is heard, this is bad, light is like poison to devils, but how did he know she was right behind him? Was he able to know she was going to attack him just by her presence? Even at that speed? This is insane!

"Nimura-san! I'm sorry!"

Irina says this as she flies in front of her and makes a sword of light in front of Kageyama

"I will not let you hurt my friends anymore!"

Kageyama lifts his hand and gathers aura into it, but instead of attacking, he makes an expression of someone who is looking for something

"One, two, three, four, five..."

He starts counting us, one by one, completely ignoring the battle

"Uhm... where is the teacher and the red eyed girl?"

He's talking about Rossweisse and Gasper!

Wait, does he think Gasper is a girl? Well, I can understand th- wait, it's not the time for this!

"I can understand leaving Asia behind, but why those two? Unless..."

An evil, terrifying smile comes across Kageyama's face, he then answers while looking at us

"You cheeky demons, thought I wouldn't notice it? I can sense they are nearby"

Right after saying that he lifts a finger in the air and aura bullets and explosions fill the factory

"Aaahhhh!"

We are completely overwhelmed by the intensity and throw around the factory

I fall to the ground and my armour is broken, there's blood coming from my body, shit, at times like this we notice how much Asia makes a difference in battle, but I can't afford to stop now!

"Ddraig, please take care of the repairs"

[Ok, partner, just watch your stamina]

Yes, he's right, I've been consuming way too much power in this fight, if this keeps going I might lose my armour before it even ends, but we have to make sure everyone escapes safely!

"Hyoudou-kun, are you alright?"

Saji gets up, he's also badly injured

"Yeah, I'm okay Saji, but how are the others"

"I'm right here"

Xenovia stands up, Irina is with her, their condition is no better

"Good, but how about Koneko-chan and..."

I see a little movement and I rush towards it

"Koneko-chan! Nimura-san!"

Nimura-san has been knocked out due to the light attack, but I help Koneko-chan stand up

"Ise-san, I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry Koneko-chan, you did well enough"

She makes a bitter expression as she says

"Be careful of his attacks, he can also do spiritual damage, just like Liliana-san said"

It's true, I can see that Koneko-chan's touki has considerably lessened and it wasn't just due to the physical damage

"We'll be careful, but we have to go, he's after Rossweisse!"

Xenovia says as she unfolds her wings and flies in the direction Kageyama went

"Hold on Koneko-chan, we'll be back"

Me and the others charge towards him, what we see when we arrive at the place, Kageyama-kun is standing right in front of the group protecting her, Sona-kaichou, Yura-san, Shinra-san, Meguri-san and Gasper. Kiba and Kusaka-san are also with them, since Asia took this as an opportunity to heal them

"You thought I wouldn't notice it? In our first encounter you were one of the first to attack and now you are here hiding on the back? C'mon, I'm not the most brilliant guy in the world, but this is an insult!"

He points towards them

"I don't know what you are trying to do, but it won't work"

He clutches his fist and a massive amount of aura is shot

"This place will be your grave!"

Rossweisse and the others fly and try dodge the attack, but even so they still took some damage

[Sword Birth]

Kiba summons several swords towards Kageyama, but he waves his hand and they are destroyed

"You are not a priority"

He says this as he pulls Kiba close to him and punches him

BOOM

An explosion is created at the impact and Kiba flies backward, he won't be able to stand this, Kiba is not a power type!

But to my suprise, Kiba plants his sword on the ground to stop his flight and stands up

"Are you okay, Yuuto-kun?"

I hear Yura-san asking, it's when I notice, she and Kusaka-san used their Sacred Gears to create a mask and a shield of light that protected Kiba from most of the impact from the explosion!

"I am, thanks you two"

He stands up and Kageyama-kun looks impressed

"To think you would be able to create a defence so fast! But it just happened because I wasn't expecting..."

Kageyama disappears and reappears in front of them

"It won't happen again!"

Kageyama charges the palm of his hand with aura and shoots it towards both of them, Kusaka-san creates several masks and Yura-san summons a huge shield of light

CRACK! CRASH!

They are destroyed in an instant and they are both wrapped in the dazzling light of Kageyama's aura

[Mirror Alice]

Suddenly, a mirror appears in front of him and his energy

"W-what is this?"

Shinra-san's Sacred Gear! It allows her to revert the opponent's attack with double the strength, it's an amazing power that unfortunately has a cooldown period before it can be used again, but can give amazing results against a power type!

Kageyama is blow backwards and hits the ground

"Now! Attack him!"

We take the advantage that Kageyama is on the ground to jump him and try to subdue him

KABOOM

But a large explosion is created, stopping us from approaching him, so even that wasn't enough!

"Kukukukuku, amazing..."

Kageyama laughs as he stands up, he's very injured, so even he can't stand if his attack is reverted at him

"What an amazing ability! Reverting my attack against me! And it worked marvelously, as expected of my own attack! And you even increased it's power! It would have been enough to take anyone down, but..."

He says this as his aura shines and his wounds start to close and even his clothes were rebuilt!

"I'm not 'anyone'!"

He says as he lifts his hand and several aura shots spread through the factory, changing directions and hitting Shinra-san right at her blind spot

"Gaaah!"

She screams as several aura bullets pierce her back and she's pulled to the ground

"Shinra-san"

"Shinra-senpai!"

"You bastard! Vritra, consume him!"

Vritra's flames engulf him, but Kageyama's aura extinguishes the flames once again

"Now, I'll go for you!"

He dashes towards Rossweisse

"We won't let you!"

Sona says as she creates several water beasts, Yura-san summons a shield of light and Kusaka-san summons several masks.

"Too weak!"

Lots of aura beams are created around Kageyama, shattering the shields, masks and destroying the water beasts as Sona, Yura and Kusaka are also blow away

"""Kyaah!"""

They scream and fall to the ground covered in smoke

"KAICHOU!"

Saji screams and throws an outburst of flames towards Kageyama

"Can't you see this won't work? Insolent fool!"

Kageyama's aura destroys the flames and uses his telekinesis to punch Saji into a wall, me, Xenovia and the others are also pummeled against the floor

"Don't forget about me!"

Kiba charges at him with a holy-demonic sword and Kageyama blocks it with his finger

"Trust me, I did not forget"

The swords that Kageyama shattered earlier are rebuilt and swarm around Kiba!

"How about having a taste of your own swords?"

"Kaah!"

Kiba yells as his own swords cut and pierce his body as he falls to the ground, again, he's using our own attacks against us!

"I couldn't stop it... to think that my own swords..."

Kiba says as he passes out on the ground

"Now, you..."

He points at Rossweisse, Gasper and Asia who were standing behind

"What were you planning?"

"It's none of your business"

Rossweisse makes several magical attacks who are deflected by Kageyama, Gasper (who had already drunk my blood) turns into a swarm of bats and paralyzes him

"We are the last line of defense! You are not getting us so easily!"

We are freed from his telekinetic grip! Yes! Even if he's strong, Gasper's time ability will still work against him!

The bats gather around Kageyama and start using their energy absorbing powers to reduce his aura, I make a fireball in my stomach and prepare to transfer my power into it, but-

"GASPER! GET OUT!"

I saw it! For a brief moment I saw Kageyama-kun's eyes move! He's not paralyzed, he's faking it!

"Ah, so you saw it?"

Kageyama's aura frees him from the stopped time and he lifts his hand in air

"Wo-woah! Stop this!"

The swarm of bats starts swirling around in the air as if they are in a tornado

"Let Gasper go!"

Since I know that energy attacks won't work, my only choice is to go toe-to-toe with him!

But when I charge forward, Kageyama's telekinesis hits me and forces me against the floor or walls

"Ugh!"

CLASH!

I watch helpless as the bats violently clash against each other and Gasper returns to his normal form

"Oh..."

He says as he passes out on the floor

"Now, no more games!"

Kageyama turns to Rossweisse and Asia and forms a powerful aura in his hands

KAAA!

Suddenly a small lightning hits Kageyama, but it's much weaker than Akeno-san's, it doesn't even bother him

"Rassei!"

The small sprite dragon appears between Kageyama and Asia! Even her familiar decided to show up!

"Grrrrr!"

He starts roaring to Kageyama, but his answer is far from intimated

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! What the hell is _that_?"

He moves his hand and grabs Rassei in his hands

"Leave him alone!"

Kageyama completely ignores Asia's request and starts pulling his wings

"A dragon? Is it real? A dragon! Hahaha! First an angel and now this! I'm really meeting so many interesting creatures! It's a pity you'll all die here, so I'll have no evidence of this battle!"

He plummets Rassei and starts to mercilessly kick him like a stray dog!

"You fucking dare to protect this devil?! You dare to stand in my path?!"

"Please stop!"

Asia pleads with tears on her eyes, I also cry tears of anger seeing this completely one sided beatdown, he's so infatuated on it that he's not even pinning us down anymore, so I furiously fly towards him, charging the boosters on my back

"Let him go!"

"Don't interrupt me!"

Kageyama creates an explosion that throws me back against the wall of the factory and shatters my armour, everyone, including Rossweisse, tries to attack him but he defends and sends them back while continuing the merciless attack on the defenseless dragon

"Learn your place, winged beast!"

He yells as he gives the last kick and throws the sprite dragon on a wall

"Ras-"

Asia tries to call the dragon's name, but is stopped by Kageyama's hand on her throat

"Guah!"

She gasps for air as his grip tightens on her neck

"Let her go!"

Rossweisse charges towards Kageyama and tries to kick and punch him, she's even using magic to reinforce her abilities, but Kageyama effortlessly blocks them all without even letting go of Asia's throat

"Shit, I can't use my flames when he's holding her!"

Saji says, we understand, as long as he's holding Asia, we can't make any dangerous attacks that might hurt her as well

"Oh, you must really treasure this girl, right? You are even taking me head on, but so be it, have as much of her as you want!"

Kageyama lifts Asia in the air with his telekinesis

"Here!"

He grabs Rossweisse's leg and uses her a bat to hit Asia!

Asia's body is sent flying and hits a pillar of the factory! If it wasn't for Kageyama's aura barrier, I'm sure it would have broken

"Asia!"

Xenovia screams as she goes towards her friend, at this point Kageyama is not even trying to hold us down anymore

"You are too weak!"

Even after beating Asia, Kageyama doesn't let go off Rossweisse, violently swinging her at the floor and pillars of the factory

"You!"

I fly right in front of him

"We'll be your opponent, so let her go!"

Rossweisse is covered in wounds and blood, but she's still counscious, if I can distract him, maybe she can still work on getting us out of here

"Uhm..."

Kageyama says as if he's carefully considering it, then a grin appears on his face

"As you wish!"

He then spins Rossweisse like a throwing disk and sends her flying with a powerful aura shot!

She flies and hits a wall at full speed, hitting the ground uncounscious

"What are you so mad for? I let her go didn't I?"

He says in a mocking tone, this guy...

An intense hatred takes over me

And just as I'm about to have a showdown with Kageyama

A sword stands between us

"I'm sorry, Ise, but me and Irina won't be satisfied if we don't grab a piece of him, so allow us to join you, okay?"

Xenovia and Irina have killing intent oozing from them, Irina's wings are flashing black and white, could it be wrath?

"I understand"

Xenovia picks Ascalon and Durandal, while Irina forms a sword of light in her hands

"Let's do this, all of us!"

I say this as me, Saji, Irina and Xenovia prepare to attack him

"Yes, for Asia-chan!"

Xenovia and Irina attack attack simultaneously, their team work is impecable, as expected of a warrior duo that worked together for years

Saji tries to subdue him with his flames and I keep punching and kicking Kageyama. Xenovia and Saji seem to be the only ones able to actually attack him from a distance, and everytime that Kageyama tries to use Vritra's flames against us, he extinguishes it before it can harm us.

But no matter what we do, it doesn't seem to be working, aura attacks, light attacks, punches, kicks, slashes, Kageyama just blocks it or makes it change direction, he hasn't even dodged during this whole fight and everytime he sees an opening, he punches us with his fist covered in aura, which can cause physical and spiritual damage to us

After several exchanges, we are already battered and tired, while we are catching our breath, Kageyama speaks

"Heh, you are already tired? This is going to end even sooner than I thought!"

Seeing this, Saji says with an anguished look

"Why is he still so energetic?"

[What is it, my other self?]

Even Vritra seem worried

"Why our flames don't work against him? Even if I can't imprison him with my curse, his energy doesn't diminished at all, why is he not even tired even though I've been sending my flames all this time?"

"True, even if his stamina is greater than ours, he has been blocking our attacks and attacking for a while, how is he not even tired?"

Xenovia also speaks

Saji clutches his fist

"I don't care! No matter what, I'll definitely make him suffer for what he did to Kaichou"

"Yes, that's the way! It's all we can do for now"

I say to Saji. Yes, let's make sure we give our best!

"So we can't defeat you in a long term battle, right?"

Xenovia asks, she has been swinging Durandal and Ascalon at him, but the damage doesn't seem to be working at all

"As expected of someone who could fight against Rias-senpai's peerage, you are even better than I thought"

Irina says and Kageyama laughs at their words

"I'm feeling popular right now! Trying to make me go easier on you by flattering me?"

Xenovia sneers

"Never, but you didn't try to take Durandal from me even once now? Why is it?"

Kageyama shrugs

"Not worth the trouble, with or without it you'll still lose, even with this new sword of yours, the result will be the same"

Instead of getting mad, Xenovia smiles

"I see, so that's how weak I am at your eyes, but I'll show you how wrong you are! Irina!"

"Yes!"

"Ise, Saji, stand back!"

We jump back and the church duo stands together and Xenovia makes a cross symbol with both her swords as Irina starts gathering more and more holy aura on her sword

"You haven't even tried to dodge any of the attacks from anyone so far, so I take it you are not dodging this one as well, right?"

Kageyama opens his arms

"Of course not! Whatever you two have, please use it! I'll gladly take your last desperate attack!"

"You'll regret this!"

The enormous aura from Xenovia's cross attack mixes with Irina's holy aura and envelops Kageyama in it's power, even his huge aura is engulfed in the attack!

CRASH!

Even the wall behind Kageyama was broken! It means that this attack was enough to even shatter his barrier around the factory!

I know we should escape, but we can't leave them here, we can't possibly leave them, also, I don't think Kageyama would let us escape so easily

And in the attack's aftermath, Kageyama is... standing?!

He is battered, I can clearly see that it damaged him, but that attack should be able to retire even a high-class devil! He wasn't even moved by the attack!

"Amazing! I even had to use my barrier to defend against this attack, you trully are amazing"

He then looks back at the destroyed wall

"And I take it that you two didn't take this opportunity to escape because your friends are still here, right?"

He says in a mocking tone

"Well, it's not like I would have let it anyway"

After he says that, the wall and the barrier are rebuilt

"Now, you two..."

He says pointing at Xenovia and Irina, the two put everything they had in that last attack, so they depleted almost all of their stamina, Xenovia can barely hold her sword anymore and Irina's holy aura has severely diminished

"You are so weakened now that I could probably ignore you two for the rest of this battle, but I can't risk any of you walking away like last time"

He charges close at an incredible speed and gets right between the two

"So you'll have this!"

And unleashes a terrifying aura attack at Xenovia!

"UGHHHH!"

She screams as she's blow backwards and flies towards a wall, falling uncounscious at the impact

"Now you!"

He pins Irina on the floor, with her back facing up, then he starts caressing her wings

"I never would expect that the first angel I saw would be helping demons..."

He grips her wings forcefully!

"AHHHHH!"

Irina screams in pain as Kageyama starts pulling out her wings with his own hands!

"That's enough!"

I charge my wings and fly towards him

"Stay there!"

An aura shot hits me and Kageyama pushes me and Saji against the floor again

"You don't deserve this wings, so I'll be taking them as a souvenir, I hope they still last after I kill you"

Irina's screams fill the factory as he mercilessly pulls them, he's not even using his telekinesis, he's directly pulling them out with his hands, blood keeps spilling, but he doesn't seem even slightly disturbed by it, simply shielding himself from it so it doesn't stain him. How much hatred does someone has to have to do something like this?

Irina finally passes out from the pain, her wings have almost been completely pulled out, Kageyama then tosses her as if she was a piece of trash

He then turns at us and a grin full of malice draws on his face

"Hahaha! You two have that beautiful killing intent I recognize from all the other demons I've already faced, guess you aren't so different after all, huh? So let's settle this already!"

I'm taken over by my anger, this guy, he won't listen to us! He attacked my friends with the intent to kill, he let the terrorists escape, he destroyed every shred of hope my friends had and now he's gonna mercilessly kill us if we don't do something!

When I look at Saji, he's also giving off a strong killing intent, like Buchou said, this was never a fight, this is a death match

"Hehe..."

I give a small laugh, now I see it, if it was Buchou, she would have noticed it from the very beginning, but I was too slow to realize untill now

"So that's what you were aiming for..."

He tilts his head

"Uh? What was I aiming for?"

I give a bitter smile

"Don't pretend it, the reason why you took us down one by one, the reason why you deliberately let us go all out against you, was to see us like this right?"

"What are you talking about Hyoudou?"

[Despair, my other self]

"De-despair?"

"Yes, Saji, that's why he let us do as we pleased, that's why he didn't took Xenovia's sword, and that's why he ripped Irina's wings as well"

At my words Kageyama bursts into a mad man's laughter

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You are right! But that's not all! The blonde girl was defeated after seeing her precious pet crushed by my boot, the teacher was helpless as I used her own body to beat her friend, I purposely let all of you who could create shields use them, even though I could make my attacks avoid them, just to see the despair on your faces as I broke them! The hopeless look of the crimson girl as she was wrapped in the power of her own slave was priceless! Seeing the sword girl and the angel scream and cry as it sunk into them that there was nothing they could do was also great! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"W-what? So you were toying with us all along?"

"Of course, if I wanted, I could have ended all this battle much sooner, but it wouldn't be enough, once my anger goes loose, I want to destroy every last shred of hope and confidence you have with sheer terror and despair! And look at how you are now, killing intent oozing all over, not even a shred of compassion in your eyes, I knew it, you guys are no different from any demon!"

Me and Saji freeze in terror at this guy's words, he is completely different from when we first fought him, now it's like a mad killer in a frenzy. He was actually having fun torturing us before going for the kill!

[Partner, calm down, you are exactly where he wants you to be]

"I'm sorry Ddraig, but I can't calm down, no matter how much I try, I won't calm down untill I avenge my friends!"

Kageyama answers with a twisted smile

"Oh, I wanted to ask you something for a while, but who is Ddraig? Is it the voice coming from your gauntlet? Can it talk to me as well?"

[Shut up, you lunatic]

Ddraig says to Kageyama, whose smile only gets broader

"Amazing, I'm seeing so many amazing things today! And you, blondie, what do you have with you? Does your gauntlet speaks too?"

[I am the Prison Dragon Vritra, beware human, my host is on the verge of going crazy on you]

Kageyama laughs hysterically again

"Dragon?! As in a real dragon? That spits fire and all? HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's awesome! I'm actually fighting a dragon today! So that's what those snakes coiling around him are and those flames as well? I wonder what will happen if I push him further..."

Kageyama then points at Saji

"Hey, blondie, those flames of yours, they were trying to stop my movement and seal my aura, but you were also stealing my energy right?"

Saji smirks

"Heh, so you noticed it? Yeah, even if you can destroy my flames and my curse, it will steal your energy, but I didn't thought you would have so much..."

Then he points his fist covered in flames towards him

"But even if it's just a little, any damage I can do to you will count!"

He declares fiercely, but Kageyama laughs and answers in a mocking tone

"Hahahahaha! You really are a idiot! Fucking stupid! Do you really think I wouldn't have attacked you first if you really were a trouble to me?"

He says it all with a disguted face

"W-what do you mean?"

Saji replies astonished, Kageyama laughs even louder

"You are all so stupid that you not even noticed this? Look closer at the smoke you idiots!"

"Smoke?"

I say looking around, there is no smoke here

[So that's what it was...]

[I had my doubts, but this monster is actually doing it]

"Ddraig, Vritra?"

"What are they doing?"

Me and Saji ask

"Hahaha! So the dragons noticed, about time, huh?

[Partner, look closely at your jewel]

I take a better look at the jewels on my armour and see a faint, almost smoke-like, line coming from it and going towards... Kageyama?

"W-what's the meaning of this?"

Saji asks while also looking at his gauntlet

[It's not just us, my other self, take a look around and you will notice]

Me and Saji look around and it's true! The smoke seems to be coming from Kageyama's aura and connecting to many places, even our fallen friends!

[My other self, he has been stealing energy from the whole place, including your friends, this whole time]

Vritra says in a nervous voice

"W-what? Then, it means that-"

Kageyama interrupts him

"It means your attacks aren't doing squat! I can manipulate energy and I can also absorb it from almost anything and anyone to turn it into my own. You think you were doing damage to me, when in fact you are the weakest one! Even that tiny dragon cub did more than you!"

I feel my eyes wdie

"He can even do that? He has been stealing our energy this whole time? Ddraig, you didn't noticed it before?"

[I'm sorry partner, but he was doing it gradualy and slowly, and since we were in the middle of a battle, I assumed it was just your energy output]

So even Ddraig didn't noticed untill it was too late, Kageyama truly is a monster

[My other self?]

I hear Vritra saying and when I turn to look at Saji, he has a hopeless look on his face

"N-nothing, I did... nothing?"

"You are right! Your flames are useless, your curses are useless, your stealing is useless! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

Kageyama keeps repeating the word 'useless' and the look on Saji's face turns from hopeless to an outright panic and terror like I've never seen before

"S-Saji, calm down, don't let him get to you"

I try to get closer, but Vritra's voice warns me

[Stay back red one! He's completely lost now, not even I am able to reach him]

"Useless, I'm useless... I couldn't protect Kaichou, I couldn't protect anyone, even though I'm a dragon king, he can absorb energy better... I just... AHHHHHHHHH!"

Saji screams as black flames envelop his whole body and the snakes who were coiling around him get agitated

"That's the face I wanted! Despair at your powerlessness! Panic in front of me! Let the terror consume you!"

[Congratulations esper, you sent him into your desired despair, so be ready to face the consequences]

Vritra says in a scary voice

"Come forward, Dragon King Vritra!"

Saji yells, wait he's going to summon Vritra right here? Inside this factory?

"Wait, Saji!"

[It's useless partner, that boy has completely given up to despair]

"HAHAHAHA! Amazing! To think your despair would take you this far!"

The enourmous snake Vritra appears, coiling it's huge body and lauching towards Kageyama, who also charges forward, attacking with his aura

[To think you would be able to clash with me on equal ground, you trully are a monster]

"People tell me that a lot you know!"

Vritra attacks him with it's large body, flames and fangs, while Kageyama uses his telekinesis, aura attacks and explosions to counter

I think about joining in, but Ddraig alerts me

[Don't budge in partner, Vritra's host is completely out of control, if you try to intefere he would probably attack even you as well]

"E-even me?"

So that's how far into his own misery Saji has fallen? With no other choice I step back and keep watching the fight

"It's my first time figthing a real dragon, you know? I don't feel like the cub counted. I kinda feel honoured now, you said your name was Vritra, right? I've read about you before, so now you live inside kids?"

[I might be using this boy as my host, but I'm still strong and proud as a dragon! Burn into your brain the image and name of the Evil Dragon King that will defeat you!]

"Hahaha! You talk a lot! Mom did said that lizards tend to be cocky!"

[Li-lizard?]

Vritra seems offended at Kageyama's remark and intesificates it's attacks

[You'll regret having brought me to the battlefield!]

Vritra's flames actually managed to subdue Kageyama's aura for an instant and it coiled it's body around him!

[Caught you!]

But instead of seeing worried, Kageyama sneers

"You trully are strong, as expected of a dragon, but you know... mom already told me that you guys have a weakness to stones"

After saying that, Kageyama uses his telekinesis to free himself from Vritra's grip

CRUMBLE CRUMBLE

Kageyama makes the entire floor above Vritra violently collapse on top of him and covers the dragon under the fast falling ruble

"That's not a meteor, but I'll make up for it with this"

The "lines" of energy around the factory intensify around Kageyama's hands and a huge ball of energy is formed

"Vritra! Get out of there!"

I scream, but the Dragon King seems to be immobilized under the rubble

"Now die!"

He throws the massive ball of energy against Vritra, the dragon is enveloped on it and disappears

"That was entertaining"

Kageyama says as he walks towards the wreckage and grabs Saji, who is unconscious now

"I really underestimated you, in the peak of your despair and misery you were able to obtain an amazing power"

He lets him go and Saji's body falls to the ground

"Now, now..."

Kageyama turns around and looks at me, I can feel his killing intent on my skin

"You don't even need to tell me that you are the strongest among them, I wasn't actually planning to leave you for last, but you actually withstood it all and your friends seemed so eager to go first, hahahaha!"

He says in a cheerful tone, I can feel my blood boiling with hatred

"You... you won't listen to me if I say we are not your enemies and that this was all a misunderstanding, right?"

Kageyama's face turns into one of pure anger

"You still going to try that? How desperate are you?"

I smile bitterly, well, it was worth the shot

"Ddraig, let's do this"

[Yes, partner, untill the end!]

"Hoho! So now you'll fight seriously? I was actually thinking you would try to run away through the hole I created when smashing the other dragon, but you are very loyal aren't you?"

"Of course I won't run! I'll never abandon my friends!"

[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]

I charge forward and envelop my arm in aura

"Too slow"

Kageyama grabs my hand and shatters my entire armour just with his pressure

"You are strong, but without the armor you are nothing"

He speaks in a tone of despise and throws me against a wall with his telekinesis

"Now that there's only you left, I wonder what form your despair will take..."

BADUMP

I can feel his killing intent, his animosity

I can hear my heart accelerating

And then memories with my friends start coming to me

Buchou, Asia, Xenovia, Kiba, Irina, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan...

I can't lose here! If I do, Buchou and the others will die, they'll be exorcised and die! I can't let this happen!

My armour starts regenerating

DOOOOOM!

CRACK!

Only to be broken again...

"I'll start with you, DIE!"

I can see his unreal anger and killing intent as he and the overwhelming aura approach me.

I get up and try to walk, but I'm being holded in the spot by his telekinesis

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I scream in pain as I feel my muscles and skin burn

What is this pain?

No wait, I know what it is, it feels like when I was hit by that light bullet from Freed or the light spear of the fallen angels, only this time it's on my entire body.

I'm reminded of Liliana's words...

'Their extreme exorcism skills'

They only need the power of their mind to kill us, right?

I look down and just as I feared, my body feels like it's dissolving, burning slowly

So that's how it feels... to be exorcised

Damn it, Liliana! If you were here none of this would have happened! Shit, will no one come to help?!

I have to do something! Buchou and my friends can't die!

I will protect everyone!

Even if it means that I have to use it

The Juggernaut Drive...

A power that can even defeat Gods and Maous, Kageyama took damage from the powerful attacks from Irina, Xenovia, Shinra and Vritra, so even he won't survive that

If I use it, I will also lose control and I could hurt everyone, but that won't happen, because if I use JD again...

[You'll die]

I hear Ddraig saying, yes, my life force still hasn't recovered from the last time, so if I use it, I will die for sure, but if I don't, then everyone might die!

"Ddraig I'm sorry"

Buchou I'm sorry...

"I'm sorry everyone, but I can't lose you, even if it means... my death"

I say with barely any strength in my voice as I stand up

Yes, I made my resolve, even if it means to die I'll save everyone!

"Ddraig get ready, I'll use the Juggernaut Drive!"

[I understand partner, we might die here, but let's drag this asshole to hell with us!]

I really don't like the idea of going to hell, but whatever! Let's do this!

"Oh, what a nice face you are making, is this your realization of what's about to happen?"

You are right, I have finally wielded to this despair and miserable feeling, but I'll win this, no matter what!

[I who am about to awak-]

KABOOM!

Just as I'm about to start the chant, I hear an explosion and even Kageyama turns around

"What is this? Someone just broke in!"

Someone? Someone came to help us?!

"The fallen angel, huh? And he brought reinforcements..."

Fallen angel? Does he mean Azazel-sensei? Wait, he knows that Azazel-sensei is a fallen angel?

He turns to me with anger in his eyes

"Was that what you were planning? Calling reinforcements to take me down?"

The grip on my body tightens and I scream in pain

"It doesn't matter, I'll kill them too and then all of you!"

"I would think twice if I were you, esper!"

This voice! I look up and I see him, Azazel-sensei!

And... Liliana-san?!

Kageyama's killing intent is instantly redirected towards the fallen angel governor

The intense burning feeling is gone in a flash, I give a breath of relieve as I'm able to breath normally again, but I still can't move my body

"If you lay a finger on the boy, then the girl here will suffer the consequences"

Azazel sensei is holding Liliana-san while pointing a spear of light at her

"Help me! Please help me!"

Huh? What's with the damsel in distress act!?

That won't work sensei! He will feel that she's a devil as well!

"Really? You are trying to use hostages now? How low are you willing to go?"

That's all Kageyama says before extending his hand and pulling Liliana-san to his own arms!

Ara, it worked? Maybe in the heat of the moment he couldn't tell if she was human or not...

"Are you alright?"

He asks Liliana-san

"Ah..."

She blushes before answering in an agitated tone

"Kageyama-kun is so cool!~"

She says as she wraps her arms around his neck and puts a mask on her own face

"Now!"

Azazel shouts and flies high in the air

"How do you know my- Wait... you are not human!"

He realized it now!

"Sorry, my dear!"

Liliana-san says this while smiling

She opens the coat she was wearing...

Bombs!

Are those bombs?! Are they going blow the place with everyone in here?!

TSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

From the cans strapped on Liliana's chest a thick smoke comes from and it envelops her and Kageyama-kun

"Issei! It's poison! Hold your breath and run over here!"

What? Poison?!

I hold my breath and run as fast as I can close to Azazel sensei who was watching the smoke envolving the two as if he could see what was inside of it

I'm really injured so just running this much pains me

"A-Azazel-sensei, what was that for?"

"I'm sorry for being late Issei, Rossweisse contacted me, but it took a while to call Liliana and break that boy's barrier. Is everyone alright?"

So it was Rossweisse's idea to call sensei? That's right, she must have seen that there wouldn't be enough time to get us out, so she asked for reinforcements

I breath in relieve

"Yes, I wouldn't say they are fine, but I think no one took mortal damage"

"That's a relieve, if a human happened to kill a member of the Gremory or Sitri peerage, there's no way to tell what could have happened"

"So you're going to poison him?"

"That's only going to make him sleep for a while, according to Liliana, that poison is especially made to take down espers, she will take care of the rest from here"

Suddenly, a flash comes from inside the thick smoke

And when it dissipates, Liliana-san and Kageyama have disappeared.

"Where did she took him?"

"To a place where he'll understand things"

"I see..."

BADUMP

"Ugh!"

Suddenly an intense pain assaults my body and I lose the strength in my legs, my armor vanishes because of the exhaustion.

"Issei!"

Azazel sensei helps me stand up

I look down and I see that my body is covered in blood, well, he did broke my armour several times

"You lost a lot of blood, don't try to move"

"N-no, I have to help Buchou, Asia and the oth..."

That's what I say before everything turns black and I pass out

Afterword: If someone makes a Danganronpa reference just because I used the word "despair" I'm going to Ora someone in the face! Okay, now that this is out of the way, I would like to explain this fight. Yes, it was completely different from the one before it on purpose, Tatseyo is in a complete rage state (100% anger, remember?) and he feels betrayed for trusting them before, so I made this fight into a one where Tatseyo wanted them to feel as much pain and despair before killing them. Also, do you guys even remembered Rassei? Yeah, it was weird for me how Ishibumi almost tossed him away after Fafnir appeared, he was Asia's first familiar after all. I also gave the Sitri a bit more of the spotlight on this one, since the first fight was all about the Gremory.


	22. Revelations and Considerations

"Argh..."

My head hurts like a bitch

What happened?

My blurred vision starts coming back to normal and I start to make sense of my surroundings

I'm in some kind of large room, which is decored as a standard living area, there are sofas, chairs, a table, a large mat and I'm laying at some sort of bed

What am I doing here?

I try to get up, but it seems like I'm stuck in place

What? I can't move?

...

!

That's right!

I was poisoned! Shit, shit shit shit!

Did it had to be poison?! From all the days to forget my mask!

I remember I was fighting against Rias and her group and then...

The dark skinned girl with silver hair! She was a demon!

The dark devil! She was the one who poisoned me!

"Ughh"

I try to move, but I can't, it seems like there's something holding me down

"Fufufu, seems like he woke up"

"Amazing, that amount of poison just to put him down for a few minutes."

"He's really something..."

I start to recognize the shapes of the ones in the other side of the room, a tall girl with disheveled white hair, a delicate looking girl with vivid purple hair and a flower on it, an old man with a beard, a blue haired girl with glasses and a hairband... and the dark devil!

"Who are you?! Why are you keeping me here?"

The dark devil comes to me and rests her hand in my cheek

"Don't worry, we are not your enemies"

I move my face to get away from her touch

"Like hell you aren't! You poisoned me! And you all reek of demonic energy!"

She makes a pouting face and puts one finger up as if lecturing me

"That's rude Kageyama-kun! But it's okay, I know you are nervous, but we'll help you understand what happened"

What is that? Why is she trying to strike a conversation now?

"LET. ME. GO!"

I'm not going to negotiate with demons that are trying to kill heroes!

BLAM

I use my telekinesis to lift in the air the bed which I'm binded to and all the objects of the room

"Woah, calm down!"

She says stepping back

"Why can't I move?"

"This is a magic binding, you gonna need a lot of power to break it, but I wouldn't explode here if I were you"

"Why not?"

"This is a hotel that belongs to my family, which means there are a lot of humans here, you wouldn't want to start a fight here, right?"

"W-what?"

I ask confused, what does she mean? We are in a hotel?

"Look"

She puts a hand on the ground and I see a vision of a family living on the floor below us, they are talking and eating like they don't know they are being watched

"So you are using hostages?"

She shakes her head

"Not at all, we have no intention of causing harm to you, this is just to make sure you will act the same towards us"

"Uhm..."

I carefully analyze the situation I am in, it's true that none of them are giving even a hint of killing intent or malice towards me

So they really don't wanna fight?

"Okay, I'll trust your for now. But don't think I'm your letting my guard down just because of it"

I put the things back down and look at them

"So, you brought me all the way here, what do you want?"

The dark devil walks towards me and gets closer to the bed

"Well, it happens that I am huge fan of your mom and dad, so I really wanted to meet you! But you had that unfortunate encounter with Rias, Sona and their peerages, then you probably got the wrong idea about us. So I brought my lovely esper servants in the hope you would understand us!"

What? Esper? It can't be...

"There's no way, no way they are espers, they all reek of demonic energy!"

The truth is I can sense that they have the energy of espers, but I can't believe it

"Ah, guess it can't be helped then, Mayumi"

"Yes, Ojou"

The girl with purple hair stands up

[You are not in danger, we are espers just like you]

What? Her mouth is not moving but I can hear her voice in my head?

Telepathy? No way...

"Impossible, this is some kind of trickery..."

[It is no trickery, my name is Mayumi and I am a telepath]

I stare at them unable to believe at what I'm hearing, the dark devil continues to speak

"You really don't wanna believe us, right? Then how about-"

I interrupt her

"If you really are espers, then show me your auras"

Her followers look at each other and then at her, as if asking for permission

She waves her hand

"Go ahead"

Without further ado, they release their auras

"No... no way..."

These are definitely the auras of espers, but yet they are mixed with demonic energy, how can this be possible?

"It's true, as impossible as it may seem. So, are you willing to listen to us now?"

"A-alright, but could you please untie me then?"

I ask her, still in disbelieve

"Alrighty~~"

She says as she puts her hand in my chest and I feel my body getting lighter

I lift myself but she keeps staring at me with a smile on her face

"Hm, are you okay?"

"Sorry, it's just that I never imagined I would have a Kageyama esper with me, fufufu"

What a weird girl, is she a crazy fan of my mom or something?

I move and sit on the edge of the bed

"So... you said you are a fan of my parents work? Like, you know my father too?"

She sits beside me

"Yes! You could say that I'm a real fan of espers, the mysteries behind the human mind and it's power just fascinate me since I was little."

Woah, I never even thought about things like that, she looks like an airhead gal at first sight, but she can say really deep things...

"So that's why you kidnapped me in the middle of the fight?"

"I didn't kidnap you! I was trying to protect a comrade!"

Comrade? So she's friends with Rias and her hero killer friends?

"Do you know that Rias and her friends go around attacking heroes? If you admire my mom then you should know she's a hero as well"

She then makes a face as if she just had a realization

"Ah right, that's why you were so pissed back there"

"What? Of course I was pissed! They were trying to kill heroes!"

She sighs

"Kageyama dear, I think we got a lot to explain to you."

She then lifts herself from the bed and takes my hand

Oi, oi, oi, calm down!

"W-w-what are you doing?"

"Just come over here"

Holding my hand like this, even if she's a devil, she's still a girl!

She leads me to a table where there are several chess pieces, but I can see that there are some pieces lacking, namely one knight, a bishop, a rook, the queen and the king.

"What is this?"

She takes one of the pawns in her hand and shows me

"This is an evil piece, do you know what it is?"

Evil piece? By the name it's definitely nothing good.

"No, never heard of it"

"Well, to sum it up: It can turn any living creature willing to become my servant into a devil"

WHAT? So this is a like a monster cell? What she's planing to do with it? Maybe she will...

"Are you planning to use it on me?!"

I say as I step back

She waves her hand in front of her face

"No, nothing like that. We also can't force you to accept it. I'm only showing this to you so you'll understand something, you notice that there are some pieces that are not here, right?"

I nod

"Yes, five of them"

"That's because they've already been used, the king piece doesn't exist, but that would be me and these espers are the ones who became my servants"

So it's true, they are humans who joined the devil's side...

That's so messed up!

I turn around to look at them, seems like they are expecting something

"Why have you done this? Why give up on your humanity? Why turn against mankind?"

The tall girl with white hair is the first to answer

"Listen here! We are protecting mankind! The guys you were trying to save were the real villains, 'hero' is just a title they made for themselves!"

What is she talking about?

"Now, now Diz-chan, let's not exceed ourselves"

The old man interrupts the amazon's scolding

"Yes, if I remeber correctly, you were also like that when we first met you, was it not?"

The purple haired girl also talks to her companion

"You... you guys..."

The amazon seems to be cornered by their words

"What Diz-chan is trying to say is that those men are actually part of a very dangerous organization called 'Khaos Brigade', the details are not important to you right now, but those men are really dangerous and evil."

Again with this 'Khaos Brigade', who are those people?

"So why they told me that they were heroes? They couldn't possibly know that I would help them because of that"

She sighs and explains

"You probably ain't gonna believe it, but they really are descendants of legendary heroes like Heracles, Jeanne D'arc and others, so they actually believe to be doing the right thing"

What...

"You seriously expect me to believe that?"

"Well, not actually, but for now..."

She grabs a notebook and a magazine and puts them in front of me

"Here, check out the hero association site or the old hero catalogue, try to look for any of the guys you saw, I guarantee you won't find them"

I access the hero association page and start checking the list of members, truth be told, there are no registered heroes who even look like the ones I helped to escape.

"Wait, hold up, how do you have access to this?"

In the old times, the site of the hero association was public, but now it's a private site that can only be accessed under strict circunstances, also, this magazine she gave me was one of the hero catalogues from decades ago, most of them were all burned, how does she have that?

She gives a mischievous smile

"I have my sources, but that doesn't matter now, have you been convinced that they weren't the heroes you were thinking?"

"Y-you are right, but then what was their objective attacking devils all of a sudden?"

"Well, the Khaos Brigade has an objective that will literally mess with the whole balance of our world. The Hero Faction is a branch of them who messes with it by attacking devils, dragons and youkai."

"How can killing evil creatures negatively affect the balance of the world?"

She makes an expression as if she's been hurt

"Ouch, Kageyama-kun! I'm a devil too you know?"

Yes, she's right, she is a devil, even though she looks like a very pretty girl

"I-I didn't mean to offend, I'm sorry, but until now all devils I've met where creatures who wanted nothing but cause harm to people"

She makes a troubled expression and sighs

"You are right, there are devils, fallen angels and youkais who act no different from evil spirits and you probably have been dealing with them your whole life. But we are different, I swear! The balance between the powers is necessary for this world!"

She is saying what I had thought yesterday, so there are good devils as well...

"What do you mean by balance of the powers?"

She makes a serious expression

"You see Kageyama-kun, the world has some powers acting as moderators for the balance of this world: Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, Youkais and other factions, if this balance were to be affected, it would spell huge trouble for the world and for the human race."

"You mean Youkais are on this as well?"

I exorcised a lot of youkais during my life, I doubt I would be able to have a good relationship with them.

"Yes, in a different role, but they do"

I sigh and look down

"That's a lot of information to absorb..."

She smiles towards me again, this girl sure has a high spirit

"Don't worry, we can help you! Also, if you want, you can ask for that angel girl's help as well, if you have problems with trusting a devil, you should feel better if it's an angel right?"

Ugh, for a reason I don't think that she'll be very willing to help me after what I did.

"Ye-yeah, but I don't think she'll want to talk to me, of ever see me again for that matter..."

Shit, now that I think about it, I don't know if I'll be able to show my face at school again, now that I was told that they may be necessary to keep the balance of the world, I don't think I can look at them in the eye, even though my intentions were good.

She makes a troubled expression

"Well, you did make short work of them... two times to be exact."

"So you know about it?"

"Yes, yes, they didn't knew a thing about espers and psychic powers, so they came to me for help, I told them I would take care of you, guess they'll be pissed at me too..."

Wait, what does she mean by "taking care"? Didn't she said she didn't want to fight?

"Take... care?"

Her eyes widen and she crosses her arms in front of her body

"Sorry, sorry! That came out wrong! I meant explaining to you and making you understand the situation and even help us if we needed! That's all!"

I breath out in relieve, I really don't want to fight them right now

"So you wanted me to help fight these guys who are doing bad things behind the name of heroes... and instead I assumed things and ended up hurting the innocent ones"

"You couldn't have know, to you, you were doing the right thing."

I put my hand against my forehead

"Yeah, but still..."

She gives me a reassuring smile

"Don't worry, I think they'll be fine since they have a [Twillight Healing] with them"

I gulp down my saliva when I hear the word 'healing'

"Y-you mean a cute blonde girl in a nun outfit?"

She looks at me

"Yes, that's her, why?"

Shit, as I feared

"I hurted her pretty bad, I don't think she'll be healing them anytime soon..."

She now has a worried expression on her face

"...Kageyama-kun, how bad did you hurted them?"

"..."

"Kageyama-kun? Please be honest with me"

She's looking at me with her big golden eyes, crap, I feel like a monster...

"I ripped the angel girl's wings, nearly exorcised Hyoudou, pierced Yuuto with his swords, among other things on the same level, all of that in my 100% state."

"Oh fuck..."

She puts her hand over her mouth with a worried expression

"I'm sorry, I didn't know and I was so angry at them for attacking heroes that-"

"No, I'm glad you were honest with me, but now..."

Then she lifts her head and looks right into my eyes

"Kageyama-kun, do you wanna repay them for what you did?"

She looks at me with her eyes filled with confidence, she's seriously beautiful. The other girls don't get very far behind either

"Y-yes"

"You can reassemble matter and manipulate energy like your father right?"

She knows that much about me?

"Yes, but how do you-"

"It doesn't matter now! Now wait a minute"

"Okay..."

She then makes a seal appear in front of her ear

"Azazel! How is the Gremory and Sitri peerage?"

I can't hear what he's answering, but she listens to the reply with a worried expression

"No! Don't take them there, I know someone who can do a better work and faster, take them to the old building, we'll be waiting"

The old building?

She turns off the seal and looks at me

"Okay, they'll be there in a minute, are you ready?"

"Yes, I'll do what I can"

"Good, everyone let's go"

They gather around a large seal that was formed on the floor

"C'mon, hop on it"

She invites me and I get ready to step inside of it

Wait... I just remembered something!

"Hey..."

"What?"

She turns to me and I scratch my head

"I know this is not the best time for this, but what is your name?"

It would be weird to address her as 'dark devil'

She proudly points at herself with her thumb

"I am Liliana Caim! Heiress of the House of Caim!"

I see, Liliana-san then...

As soon as she finishes saying this, a light surrounds us and when I notice, we are inside the old building where the Occult Club gathers

The man with a goatee walks towards us, he's the fallen angel teacher, Azazel

"Liliana... what the fuck? What is he doing here?"

He says looking at me

"Kageyama-kun is going to heal them"

So that was her idea?

"R-right, yes, I'm here for it"

Azazel makes a confused expression

"Huh? But what about-"

"There is no time for that! Just take us to where they are!"

She then turns to me

"Just consider this as a demonstration of regret, right, Kageyama-kun?"

She looks at me as if expecting me to say something, I nod my head

"Y-yeah, she's right, I'll do what I can"

Azazel still has a doubtful look, but gestures for us to follow him

"Alright, come with me then"

We follow Azazel to a spacious room with several sleeping mats on the floor

Issei and his friends are unconscious on top of them, they seem to have received first aid, but are definitely in a bad shape

"Liliana, are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Trust me, Azazel, I believe in him"

She believes in me? Without even knowing me?

"C'mon, let's fix the healer girl so it will be easier to heal the others"

She takes me to Asia who has a bandage around her head and in other parts of her body

This is gonna be harder than I thought

"Liliana-san, if you know my powers, then you know that I'm not a healer, right?"

My power to manipulate energy can accelerate the regeneration factor, while my matter assembling can heal more serious damage that wouldn't regenerate normally, it's easy when I use it on my own body, but if it's someone else, then I'll have to know what I want to fix, otherwise, depending on the wound, I might end up damaging even more the person's body, push too much their regenerative skills or not heal it correctly

"Yes, I know the limitations, Azazel, what exactly is the problem with her?"

"A concussion on the back of the head and cracked bones on the parts where she has bandages due to being beaten around like a ragdoll"

He delivers the last part in an angry voice and I can feel his gaze at me

"So she had no serious or fatal injuries?"

I ask

"No, compared to the others, she's mostly fine"

Yeah, I do remember that I was rather nice to her

Well, as nice as someone in a maniac killing frenzy can be

But okay, I can work with that

"I think that's enough information"

I grab Asia with my hands and start fixing the girl

I can usually do that in an instant, but that's when it's with me, on others I have to be much more careful, so it takes about one minute to finish healing her

"Okay she's fine now, she'll probably wake up in a..."

"Ughh..."

Oh shit, she's already waking up?

Asia slowly opens her eyes and speaks with a groggy voice

"Ise-san? Where am I... GUAAAAAAAAH!"

As soon as she sees me, the little girl screams and crawls backwards to a corner of the room.

"Calm down Asia, he's not going to hurt you now"

Azazel walks towards the little girl

"Azazel sensei? Liliana-san? W-w-what is **he** doing in here?"

She talks as if I was some sort of monster, well, I can't blame her

"He was the one that healed you Asia, I explained things to him and now he's on our side, so rest easy, no one here will hurt you"

Asia then looks at me

"Re-really?"

Ah, guess I have say something friendly?

"Yes, I'm not your foe anymore, I'm here to help"

Azazel lets off the girl and stands up again

"I don't think that'll be necessary Kageyama, Asia, you can use your sacred gear now, right?"

She still seems scared, but answers him promptly

"Yes! I have to heal the others!"

She picks herself up and goes into the middle of her injured companions

GLOW

The same green light from before emmanates from her body towards her friends and the injuries on them start to diminish and are eventually gone

Amazing, even for a healer her skills are amazing!

(What is she?)

I whisper to Liliana-san, who was standing by my side watching the display of the little girl's power

(Remember when I told you about [Twillight healing]? That's her sacred gear, it grants it's user superb healing skills)

(Oh, okay)

Then I realize something...

(Liliana-san...)

(What is it?)

(What's a Sacred Gear?)

I really have no idea what these words mean

She has a surprised expression on her face

(Oh yeah, we forgot to explain it to you didn't we? Hold on...)

"Azazel!"

She calls the fallen angel's attention

Both him and Asia look at us

"What?"

"I'm going to take Kageyama-kun to another room, so please explain to Rias and the others the situation when they wake up okay?"

Azazel lifts an eyebrow and chuckles

"Well, you sure waste no time... have fun then!"

Liliana-san blushes at Azazel's words, what did he meant by 'have fun'?!

"That's not it, you damn idiot! Kageyama-kun wants to know what a sacred gear is, also he must have a lot of questions on his head right now!"

Azazel gives us another weird look

"I'm sure he has..."

Liliana-san blushes even more, what is this old pervert insinuating?

"Shut up! Also, it's no good to let him close to Rias and her peerage before we explain things to them, Asia's reaction was harmless but the others might not be so subtle"

The fallen angel strokes his goatee

"You are right, but if you want to explain him about Sacred Gears, then am I not the best one to do it? You might be an expert about espers, but Sacred Gears are my thing"

His 'thing'? Also, she's an esper expert? I thought she was just a fan girl or something

"W-well, if you want to, then it might be better if it's you."

"Okay then, Asia, can you take it from here?"

"Y-yes, leave it to me!"

"Alright, all of you come with me"

"Wait, all of us? What if Asia needs help?"

I say it to him

"It's better to leave Asia to do the work by herself, she's used to treat their wounds, you would all just get in the way"

With that we make our way to another room of the old building

"Sit down Kageyama-kun, this is gonna take some time."

I sit at a couch, Liliana-san and the pruple haired girl sit next to me, the others sit at chairs and at another couch

"Well, first things first, you saw Issei's armor, right?"

The flashy gundam-like one?

"Yeah, that red suit that looks like a dragon, right? That's a sacred gear?"

Azazel nods his head

"That was his [Balance Breaker], this is his Sacred Gear's battle form, but not all Sacred Gears work like that, for example, Asia's healing power is a sacred gear named [Twillight Healing]"

"I see, then what is the difference between Sacred Gears and psychic powers?"

"I was just getting into that, sacred gears are special artifacts bestowed only upon humans or half-humans by the God of the bible as part of a system of miracles, they have different powers and usages, many people who had their names engraved on history were sacred gear users. Different from psychic powers, these artifacts can be passed to another person entirely and some, such as Issei's [Boosted Gear], have legendary beasts residing inside of them"

Legendary beast...

"The beast that lives inside Hyoudou is a dragon right? It was that the power I felt the first time I saw him"

Liliana-san has a puzzled look

"So you were able to feel the Sekiryuutei's power right when you met him? Amazing..."

"He's quite something, you really caught a good one, Liliana"

"Duh, did you expect any less from a Kageyama?"

Wait a second, did she said Sekiryuutei (Red Dragon Emperor)?

"Woah, woah, cut the praise for a sec! Are you telling me that Issei has the real legendary Y Ddraig Goch inside of him?"

I've already read the legends about the Red and White Dragons, but it's been said that they were slayed ages ago! So you're basically saying that he now lives inside Hyoudou, just like Vritra was living within that blondie?

Liliana-san looks at me

"Yes, it's true, you more than anyone knows that even if a beast or monster is killed, it's soul can still bring trouble to this realm, right? So when they were slayed, the God of the bible decided to seal their souls inside these sacred gears so that they would aid humanity instead of bringing harm to them. Sacred Gears can only be possessed by humans or by those who are at least part human"

It's really to digest this, but it makes some sense

"It's kinda scary, but so this sacred gears must be pretty rare then?"

Azazel shakes his head

"These Sacred Gears that have Legendary beasts inside them are part of a group of Sacred Gears know as [Longinus], they are extremely powerful and unique sacred gears, but not all have beats on them and there are only thirteen of them, however, the other Sacred Gears like Asia's [Twillight Healing] and Yuuto's [Sword Birth] are also sacred gears, but they are not unique, there are others with the same ability around the world"

I stop to think for a while

"So Yuuto's ability of creating swords is not a demonic power, but a Sacred Gear that any human could have?"

Azazel answers

"Yes, as long as they are even part human, there's still a chance to be born with a Sacred Gear"

I put my hand under my chin

"Hmm, Kageyama-kun? Is something wrong?"

Liliana-san asks me

"No... hey, Liliana-san, you know about heroes, right? Could it be that..."

The smile on her face tells me everything

"So you noticed, yes, there were heroes on the past that were sacred gears hosts"

"I see... that actually explains a lot"

There were many heroes back in the time, some of them had powers similar to the ones I saw with these devils

"Oh, so you already had contact with sacred gear users before?"

Azazel asks me with curiosity, and I nod

"Directly I only met a few, but we didn't called what they had Sacred Gears..."

"How did you called it then?"

""Superpowers, obviously""

Me and Liliana-san say it at the same time and we look at each other as Azazel laughs

"Hahahaha! I see then, so you just called it superpowers, well, it was a hero society after all"

"We just assumed they were talents just like my esper abilities, but they were actually something different all along, huh?"

"Well, Sacred Gears are a mysterious power that the God of the bible decided to bless upon humans, people who don't have inner knowledge about it wouldn't be able to tell them apart from innate supernatural abilities"

Liliana-san nods at Azazel's words

"Many users themselves don't know the power they have, it's natural that it would lead to this confusion"

"I see..."

I say this while I look at the ceiling thinking, it sure is a lot to take in, but then I'm reminded of something

"But why am I so much stronger than him then? Are you telling me that I am stronger than a Heavenly Dragon? Weren't they supposed to be stronger than Gods or was that just part of the legend?"

It is said that the fights between Albion and Ddraig shook the very foundations of earth and sky and made even Gods afraid of them, is that a lie? Or am I stronger than a God? If that's the case, then Kuriko and my parents would be on what level?

"The Sacred Gear system sealed the original powers of those beasts, as he is now, Issei can only manifest a fraction of Ddraig's power, maybe more if he uses his [Boost] skill, but it's still nothing compared to Ddraig's original power. He's steadily becoming stronger and awakening more and more of his power..."

I understand, man, this sacred gear thing is complicated

"By [Boost], you mean that voice that kept shouting as he raised his aura? That was Ddraig's ability?"

Azazel nods and then gives a laugh

"Correct, boy, you were lucky to be facing him now, if Issei had already mastered Ddraig's original power you would being rescued"

I think that was a provocation and make a bitter expression, but I don't know how to answer him back, as strong as I am, I can't see myself defeating a Heavenly Dragon with it's original power

But Liliana-san speaks before I can formulate an answer

"You really think so, Azazel? Kageyama-kun defeated Vritra you know? That means he is atleast stronger than a Dragon King, don't you think he can grow even more?"

Eh? What is she saying?

"Oh, so you are telling me you think that he could defeat the Sekiryuutei?"

"He-hey, Liliana-san, don't say that kind of thing so carefreely, it's a Heavenly Dragon we are talking about and I was already going all out when I fought Vritra, you know?"

It's true that I managed to defeated that evil dragon, but it wasn't so easy and a Heavenly Dragon is a much stronger existence

They both give me a confused look

"Are you sure Kageyama-kun?"

Liliana-san says it looking at me, I answer in confusion

"S-Sure of what?"

She tilts her head

"Are you sure that you were using your full power?"

My full power?

"Yes, I was going at 100% and-"

"I don't think so"

She says with a serious face

"Eh?"

That's the only thing that manages to come out

"Y-you don't think so what?"

"I don't think you were using your full potential"

"What do you mean?"

Azazel steps in

"Liliana is an esper expert, she is know to bring out the talent of her servants..."

"We can testify to that, fufufu"

Mayumi says it at my side while raising her hand

Azazel makes a pause and turns to Liliana

"So you think you can make him stronger than the Sekiryuutei?"

Liliana-san shrugs

"I don't 'make' them Azazel, I just bring out what they can already do..."

She then gives a sharp look at him

"Unlike you, who gives kids artificial Sacred Gears like they were toys and allowed that blondie to awake Vritra without almost any control over it"

There sparks flying at their exchange of stares, but I interrupt it because of what Liliana-san said

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on a second! Artificial Sacred gears? And what about this thing that you were the one who gave that boy Vritra?"

Azazel scratches the back of his head

"Well... it's a complicated thing"

Is he trying to dismiss the subject? But depiste his dodginess, Liliana-san explains to me

"Artificial Sacred Gears are skills just like Sacred Gears that can be built and given to someone with enough power to hold it and skill to use it, most members of the Student Council of this school have it."

"Was that mirror like skill one of them?"

I ask, that girl was able to reflect one of my attacks with even more strength than I had put into it, I was really curious about it

But Azazel shakes his head

"No, Shinra and Saji have natural sacred gears, but all the others were given to them by me and the Grigori"

"Grigori?"

Liliana-san answers me

"It's an institute of the Fallen Angels that researches and develops Sacred Gears, they were the ones who created the artificial sacred gears that the Student Council uses"

I see, so both of them are naturals while the rest of the Student Council uses these "Artificial" ones

"This institute sounds kinda dangerous..."

Liliana-san nods

"And it is, specially in the hands of this guy"

She says pointing at Azazel

"He-hey, that's not fair! I only did that because it was an emergency!"

Azazel defends himself and I once again have to ask

"Emergency?"

Liliana-san nods and speaks

"Yes, that boy, Saji Genshirou, was born only with one Sacred Gear, [Line], which contained one of the five fragments of Vritra's soul, but we had an emergency battle with the terrorists not too long ago and Azazel decided that it would be a good idea to give Saji the other four sacred gears, fusing Vritra's soul into one sacred gear and giving the legendary evil dragon a new life inside a 17 year old boy"

W-WHAT?!

"What the fuck did you had in your head?! Did you know that when I was battling him he literally lost all reason and Vritra took over? What would you do if he did that in an area full of civilians?"

"You tell him! I warned him at the time that it was dangerous!"

I was born with my own powers, and as Liliana-san said, I can even defeat a Dragon King with them, but I've been watched and educated since kid on how to use my powers, it's not like someone simply gave them to me to solve an emergency and left a legendary evil creature living within my soul.

Azazel puts his hands up as if trying to defend himself

"B-but what's the problem? It worked didn't it? And Saji is a good kid, he wouldn't hurt anyone"

Is that his defence?

"The age is the least of the problems, you crazy fallen! Why did you think that bringing that Evil Dragon back would be a good idea?! Even if he's inside Genshirou, if that thing's curse touches a normal person or even a lesser demon, it would kill them for sure!"

"E-eh..."

Azazel seems to be cornered by our words, this guy is seriously irresponsible!

But if he is, then...

"H-hey, Liliana-san"

""Huh?""

Both turn to me at my sudden change of mood

"If Azazel is irresponsible... then so is this God, right? Because, why in the world would God bestow such a phenomenal power to a kid without any training or even giving them early awareness of what they have? Why would anyone on it's right mind do that?"

I can hear Azazel sighing

"Honestly... we don't know, the will of the God of the bible is a mistery even to the angel faction"

"And no one can ask him why in the world he would do that?"

At my question, Liliana-san and Azazel look at each other, their eyes seem filled with sadness

"Azazel, can I?"

He nods

"Go on..."

Liliana-san turns to me

"Kageyama-kun, I know you probably won't believe us but..."

Liliana-san gives another sigh and looks at the floor before looking at me again

"The God of the bible is dead, he was killed during the great war among Angels, Devils and Fallen Angels."

What...

No, what? You can't kill God, that's impossible! That's ridiculous!

"What the hell are you saying? You can't kill God! How the fuck do you kill God?!"

I'm starting to get angry, are they really telling me truth? This sounds like a lot of bullshit to me.

"Calm down boy, why would we lie to you about it?"

"I don't know! Then tell me: How did God died?"

Azazel sighs

"We... we don't know"

"How the fuck you don't know? You are telling me God was killed and the murder hid the body? Is that what you are asking me to believe?"

Liliana-san then puts her hand on my shoulder

"Kageyama-kun calm down, we are telling you the truth, please believe us, if you want to talk to Hyoudou and the others you can do that, they know about it too"

I breath in and breath out, as much as I think that all of this is bullshit, I simply can't think of a reason for them to lie to me about it, I also can't sense any malice from either of them.

"Okay... so keep going. After God died, what happened? Why did the world didn't ended or some sort of apocalypse occured?"

Azazel smirks

"Heh, typical of humans, you believe that a world without God would be impossible right? You think a world without God would decay isn't it? I am sorry to say but that isn't the case. Me and you as well are both healthily living like this. The world moves on even without a God."

The world moves on without God...

Neither me or my family are particularly religious, but the thought of God being killed still bothers me a lot.

Also there's the thing Azazel said about me acting as a 'typical human', this is the first time I feel like that. As an esper, I always had more knowledge about the other world than the others around me, having everything I believed suddenly destroyed and seeing that I was ignorant all along is a harsh reality to face.

Liliana-san speaks up

"The God of the bible may have died, but the system he created is still working, that's why the sacred gears still exist, among other things"

I guess I can live with that, however, there's still another thing bothering me

"You are refering to Him as 'The god of the bible', are you gonna tell me that there other Gods as well?"

Azazel laughs

"Ahahaha! That's right! You know the Greek mythology? Asgard? Shinto religions? The Indian gods? All of them exist, not only that, but they coexist as well..."

He then scratches his cheek as if reminded of something

"Well, to an extent at least..."

I sigh, that's to be expected, of course there are other Gods, why wouldn't?

I put my face between my hands and I'm looking at the floor trying to process everything that was just told to me.

"Hey, boy"

The tall girl with white hair, calls my attention. Her name is Diz right?

"W-what?"

She speaks in a much more relaxed tone than when she first spoke to me

"Don't worry, we also got confused when we found out, there's a lot more to this world than you believe, but whether it's a good thing or bad depends on how you'll react"

Woah, that's impressive, I never thought this amazon would be able to give an advice like that, guess I'm really quick to judge people...

"T-t-thanks... I think I'll need time..."

The old man with a beard then speaks up

"Diz-chan is right, before we became devils we were all espers and we believed to know more about the spiritual world than anyone. After meeting Liliana-sama, our view of the world changed completely and we realized we didn't knew everything. Take your time and you'll see that it doesn't have to be a bad thing, as Azazel-dono said, a world without God still keeps going."

They saw right through me...

"And you can count with us anytime, right Ojou?"

Mayumi says it to Liliana

"Of course! Kageyama-kun, if you need any answers come to us!"

Such kindness...

"Are you doing this because you want to recruit me? Make me one of your pawns or something?"

Obviously I'll get suspiciousof it, but Liliana smile drops and she looks down with a sad expression at my answer

"R-right, there's no way you would be able to trust a devil so easily isn't it?"

She looks like she's about to cry! I really can't stand to see a woman cry, especially when she has been so kind to me all this time!

"No, I'm sorry! It's just that you are being so helpful even though I attacked and almost killed your friends..."

"Well, since you mentioned it... why did you run away the first time?"

Azazel speaks

Oh, that

He means the first encounter between me and the Gremory peerage, that time I was wearing my robe, so they didn't recognized me and I went away because I was truly impressed by their actions

"Their courage and their love for each other I guess? They didn't acted as devils, they put themselves in harm's way just to save their friends, that left me so confused I didn't know what to do."

Azazel then nods with a pleased expression

"Heh, to be expected, they really are a bunch of soft hearted idiots, for you who always thought of devils as evil monsters, that must have messed with your head."

"That's true, the way they acted... it reminded me of the heroes I've met in my life."

"Like your mom right?"

Liliana-san asks

"Yes, like her, but like father too, that will to protect everyone, it really reminded me of them"

She smiles and looks at Azazel

"See, I told you he was a good guy."

Azazel waves his hand

"Yeah, yeah, so why did you attacked them again? You went from sympathy to killing intent pretty fast, Issei would probably be dead if we didn't arrived in time"

He's right, I was about to exorcise Issei when Liliana-san took me to that apartment

"The guys they were figthing against told him that they were heroes, he misunderstood it and thought they were trying to kill real heroes instead of the freaks of the Hero Faction."

Liliana-san answers Azazel's question instead of me

"I was so angered that I ended up going all out, I'm sorry... really sorry."

Azazel makes a troubled expression

"Heh, so you mean they almost got killed over a misunderstanding? Boy, you don't know the chaos you could have caused if we didn't stopped you, the consequences of what you were about to do could have affected the whole balance of the underworld and heaven as well."

Shit, just what have I got myself into?

"W-why? Are they so important to keep the balance of the underworld?"

I look at Liliana-san searching for an answer

"Well, Issei and the others are like celebrities in the underworld, but it's mostly about Rias and Sona..."

"What about them?"

Azazel then says

"They are the sister of the Maous"

...

WHAT?

"H-ho-hold up, are you telling me Rias and Sona are the satan's sisters? They are related to the ruler of hell himself? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Basicaly yes, the original Lucifer also died like the God of the Bible, now there are four Lord Rulers of hell, Sona and Rias are the little sisters of two of them"

"S-satan died too?"

Oh fuck, on how much shit did I steped into?

"...Are the devils going to declare war on me?"

I say with my hand against my forehead, I already have enough trouble as it is, if these devils started chasing me around as well, I probably could kiss goodbye to any chances of a peaceful life anywhere.

"Don't worry, you didn't caused any permanent damage, if I explain things to them I'm sure they won't come after you."

"Yes, I believe they also have reasons to drop this matter as well..."

Liliana-san ads

"What do you mean?"

I'm relieved, but I still want to know for sure if I'm safe

"Remember that Liliana said that they are kind of celebritites in the underworld?"

"Yes"

"Their strength played a big role on that, if it came to the ears of the underworld that a single human overwhelmed the entire Gremory and Sitri team, it would bring great shame to Rias, Sona and their followers"

I see, they weren't weak, but are they considered that strong in the underworld? I can think of at least 8 people including me who can easily beat all of them

"...Without mentioning that the underworld would probably become VERY interested in you"

What? Please no

"No, no, I already met enough devils for the day"

"Hahahaha, you were right Liliana, he sure is not the type that likes attention"

I turn to Liliana-san at Azazel's remark

"You... sure know a lot about me"

I had to say it, there's no way it's normal to know so much about someone who avoids the spotlight like me.

"Well, it's not hard to find info about you, Kageyama-kun, your mother was a super famous heroine after all and your father, even if he's not as famous, is still a legend among the esper society you know?"

So my anonymity is easy to break like that?

"Also..."

She says as she slides on the couch closer to me with an impish smile on her face

"It's not the hardest thing in the world to recognize the differences between your work and the other espers work, am I right..."

She whispers the next words right into my ear

"...Plague doctor-kun?"

So she knows about it this nickname too?

"I see, so you know about that as well"

"Fufufu, not only that but the other reason why you wear that too..."

!

"Don't say it!"

I cover her mouth with my hand, I don't wanna hear it.

Many espers use some sort of disguise when battling or working, because some of us don't want to have our identities know, but I have another reason to wear my mask and robe...

It is because of poison, obviously!

Yes, that's right, poison is a huge trouble for me! Laugh if you want, fast acting poisons are one of the few things I can't regenerate even with my powers, if it hits my nervous system then I'm done for! Even father was poisoned once by Claw! Some people say I am a iophobic, but it's not a phobia if it has a reason!

"Keep quiet about it!"

I pull my hand back and watch as Liliana-san laughs her ass off at my weakness.

"Fufufu, okay"

"Fufufufu"

The purple haired girl who is at my other side is laughing too, shit, she's a telepath right? So she must know it too, fuck...

"What were you two talking about?"

Azazel has an eyebrow lifted at our conversation, she was whispering in my ear so he didn't heard it

"No-nothing important!"

He doesn't seem conviced, but drops the matter.

"Anyway, what's important now is what you are going to do with that info, are you going to help us to maintain the safety of this world?"

What? Am I being recruited?

"We could really use your help Kageyama-kun, but I know you must have a lot in your head right now..."

A lot doesn't even begin to describe how much I have in my head right now, but I do want to help them

"It trully is a lot to process, but we really need all the manpower we can get right now, also, you must know that this information could break the balance of human society if it came to public, it wouldn't be a problem if you were a simple human, but you have some credit as an esper, so if you decided to go around spreading the word of what we told you, it would become a serious trouble for all of us."

Liliana-san stops and then looks at me

"H-he's right Kageyama-kun, I hope you can understand"

You don't have to tell me that

"Don't worry, I don't plan on telling no one what we discussed today, but it's true that I won't be able to forget either..."

"I know, that's why I asked: What do you plan on doing from now on?"

Even if you ask me..

"I have no idea, to be honest I want to help you all, but how can I do that? Just fighting doesn't seem to be enough to take down all the operations of this 'Khaos Brigade' of they are so terrifying as you keep saying"

Azazel makes a confused expression before bursting in laughter

"Hahahahaha, you sure are one confused kid, so let me put it in this way:"

His expression then changes to a serious one

"The balance of the world is on a very complicated situation, the factions are doing the best that we can to keep it, but the truth is that threats to our current peace are almost everywhere, suspicions and tension are on the rise as no one knows who to exactly trust and manpower is needed to keep that balance. That's where you can come in handy"

Liliana-san then turns to me

"My team specializes in esper abilities and we are figthing against the terrorists from the Khaos Brigade as well, if you want, you can join us, we'll show you how to make use of your skills against them"

"You are very powerful and I'm sure you can become even more with her help, if you would come to our side, I think it would be a great addition to finally end this war with the terrorists."

Liliana-san looks puzzled for a second before closing her eyes and noding

"Kageyama-kun, your power is something that would be of great help in keeping the balance of this world together, the truth, as Azazel said, is that there are many factions, including the fake heroes you met today, who are trying to disrupt the balance of the world and the current peace among the factions, you could be of great help to all of us."

"You could also think of it as a way to repay us for all the shit you've caused"

Azazel says this

I gulp down before answering, it's not like I don't want to help but...

"As a... devil?"

To my surprise Liliana-san shook her head

"It's not necessary, your powers allow you to interact with the other world even though you are completely human, so there might not be any need for you to become a devil"

I breath out in relieve, I want to help them after hearing their story, but I don't think I'm ready to throw my humanity away and become one of the things I've fought against my entire life.

"I see, I'll help you as I can then"

Hearing my answer Liliana-san gives me a bright smile

"Yes! Thank you!"

Mayumi, who is by my side slightly bows her head

"It'll be a pleasure working with you"

Azazel then says

"So it's settled! I hope we can count on you Kageyama-kun"

KNOCK KNOCK

There's a knock in the door of our room, when we turn around to see who it is, Asia is standing there timidly with half of her body hidden behind the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Ise-san is..."

Azazel makes a worried expression

"What about Issei?"

"H-he's in a really bad state! I healed his wounds but he doesn't seem to wake up, his heart rhythm is irregular, he lost a lot of blood and there's something else I don't understand, Koneko-chan said that he lost too much spiritual strength!"

Ah, right, before Liliana-san arrived I was in the middle of exorcising Hyoudou, healing his pshysical wounds will not be enough

Azazel stands up after hearing Asia

"Shit, I knew we should have sent him to a hospital in the underworld!"

"Don't worry, hey Kageyama-kun, come with me"

Liliana-san walks towards the corridor and I follow after her, Asia and Azazel are with us as well

We arrive in the room from before and there seems to be members from the Gremory and from the Student council who are already awake

"What is he doing here?"

Rossweisse says this while everyone who has already awaken makes a fighting stance when they are all obviously in no condition to fight

"Don't worry, he's on our side, come here"

Liliana-san moves her hand and sits by the side of the mat where Issei is laying

Then she begins to explain

"You can manipulate energy as well right?"

So she knows that too? Well, I'm not surprised

"Y-yes, but I don't think I can give my energy to him, since he's a devil, it might be dangerous"

If I give my energy to another esper, I can replenish their stamina and increase their power by several times as long as I'm around, but I never tried lending my energy to an evil being

"It's true, lending your own energy to him is risky, not only because he's a devil, but because he has a dragon inside him as well, but!"

She takes my hand and puts it on her arm

"If you use the energy of another devil it will be alright"

I wide my eyes in surprise

"Are you serious? I never tried such a thing, also my manipulation of energy is not that great in my normal state, only in 100% I can make the most out of it"

This never crossed my mind, can I really manipulate the energy of an evil being and send it to another?

"Don't worry, I will release my energy by myself, so all you have to worry about is manipulating it"

I see, this girl is really smart, will this actually work?

"O-okay, let's do it then"

"Wait, Azazel, we'll also have to replenish his dragon side as well, could you lends us _that_ for a moment?"

Azazel says 'I understand' and summons some sort of jewel, I can feel a great energy flowing from inside of it

"What is that?"

Liliana-san grabs the jewel and places it in my hand

"In this jewel resides Fafnir, one of the dragon kings"

"The Gigantic Dragon Fafnir from the Norse mythology?"

First Vritra, now Fafnir too? Why does it seem to be dragons everywhere now?

"Exactly, if you use my demonic energy and his draconic energy, we'll be able to at least reduce the effects from the exorcism"

"Is it alright?"

I look at Azazel and he nods his head

"There's no problem, if it's just a little, then Fafnir won't mind lending it"

"Alright then..."

I grab Liliana-san's arm and hold the jewel with my other hand

"Hold on!"

I hear a voice from behind us, it's Rias Gremory

"Are you really going to heal him?"

She asks with a doubtful expression

I nod my head

"I have no intention of harming anyone here anymore"

Liliana-san also answers

"We are just going to give him demonic and draconic energy so he can recover the spiritual strength he lost in the fight"

"..."

Rias hesitates for a moment before steping forward

"Use my demonic power then"

"E-eh?"

I'm surprised by what she just said and then look at Liliana-san

"Is it alright?"

Liliana-san puts a hand under her chin and answers

"Good, it might be even better, you are his master after all, aren't you?"

Rias nods

"Then allow me"

She kneels close to where Issei is

"I'll begin it then..."

Rias let's her crimson aura come out and I combine it with the golden aura from the jewel

I try to ignore the stares I'm getting from the members that already waken up and focus on channeling both energies through my body and then release it towards Issei, it leaves me and enters his body with no problem

"A-amazing, I didn't know I could do this"

The colours of the aura seem to mix as they make their way to Hyoudou

After a few seconds of transference, Liliana-san speaks to me

"Fufufu, that should be enough for now"

I stand up and return the jewel to Azazel

Asia makes her way to Issei, she and Rias inspect him closely

"Incredible! He's much better! Even his breathing is stable now! Thank you Liliana-san, Kageyama-kun!"

She enthusiastically thanks us while bowing her head, Liliana-san laughs at the cute girl's reaction

"Fufufufu, there's no need to thank us, I also think Kageyama-kun learned something from it, right?"

"Y-yes..."

I didn't know I could do this and yet she thought of doing it the instant she heard about Issei's situation. So that's what she meant with being an esper expert?

"Well, if everyone is alright, then I guess it's time for you to go home, right?"

So suddenly? Well, I guess it can't be helped

"Yeah, I think you're right"

"Alright, then come with me!"

She stands up and motions for me to come

I start to follow her but...

"You destroyed us and now you come to our aid, what do you plan to do with it?"

Rias asks us

But Liliana-san merely sighs at her question

"Azazel..."

The fallen angel nods

"Don't worry, I'll talk to them"

"Thank you"

She then walks out of the room with me following right behind her

"Azazel will explain things to them for now, but I think they'll want to hear your side of the story too, so you should think about what you're gonna say to them tomorrow"

"Don't tell me, ah, I wonder if I'll ever be able to look at their faces again..."

...

"So... I'm going to have to get along with them now?"

I ask Liliana-san

"Yes, if you are going to stay on this school that is, I also recommend you to talk with the student council, the president and the members are from the house of Sitri, a separate group from the Gremory. Getting along with them will be important too."

"Alright..."

Actually, there's something I really wanna ask her...

"Liliana-san"

She turns to me

"Liliana"

"Huh?"

"Just Liliana is fine, no need to add '-san' in the end"

Eh, really?

"I don't want to disrespect, so I thought..."

"It's okay, you can call me Liliana... do you mind if I call by your first name?"

Well, we'll be working together after all, so I guess it's not a problem

"Of course, no problem"

"You can also call me Lilian if you want"

She already wants me to call her by the nickname?!

"Liliana is fine!"

She laughs at my rushed response

"Fufufufu, okay then Tatseyo, what is it that you wanted to ask?"

Oh yeah, I had a question

"Well, how did you know I could do that? I mean, I never even tried it, yet you quickly thought of it"

She smiles at my question

"Remember that Azazel said that you could become even stronger with my help? That was what he was talking about, I may not seem like it, but I have a lot of experience and research about espers and psychic powers. If you stay with me Tatseyo..."

She says as she walks closer

"...I can make you become stronger than you can imagine and use your powers in ways you never thought you could"

"Can you really?"

She gets even closer and runs her finger through my shirt up untill the collar, where she pokes it

"Of course "

Liliana-san says giving me a bright smile

I freeze for a while

She is beautiful, her face, hair, eyes and even... her body

I wasn't paying attention before, but she has a great figure

"Are you alright Tatseyo? Your face is kinda red..."

She says lifting her hand to touch my face

I lift my hand and grab hers to stop it

"I-I'm a-alright, I j-just-"

"Oh my, are we interrupting something?"

I take my eyes off Liliana-san and look behind her

Mayumi and the old man are standing at the corridor with a happy expression on their faces!

"My my, Liliana-sama sure moves fast, fufufu"

"Ah, it sure is good to be young, hahaha"

Shut up! We weren't doing nothing wrong!

"-! How long were you two watching?"

Liliana-san says it while blushing at her friends words, hey why are you blushing? You were the one who started it!

"Oi, if the two would stop flirting I would like to go home today if possible"

The white haired girl says while popping her head out of the door, even she was watching?

"Mou, let's go then, Tatseyo"

"R-right"

I follow after her into the room

"Alright, you probably have to go home right now, sorry if we staled you for too long"

"No problem, I live alone right now so there's no one actually concerned about my delay"

"Really? Tatsumaki-san and Kageyama-san must trust a lot on you! Where do you live anyway?"

"10th district"

She makes a pause as if trying to remember something

"Oh right! There's a discount store over there, right? Is it close to your house?"

I nod

"Yes, it is, but I can go home walking, you don't need to teleport me with you"

She waves her hand

"It's not a problem, we can't teleport you alone there now because you are not a devil, but Mayumi can take you there in no time, you know where this hardware store is, right, Mayumi?"

The delicate girl answers with a smile

"Yes, Ojou"

"So please take Kageyama-kun there, I'm sure he'll have a full day tomorrow, so he needs to rest"

"Alright, are you ready Tatseyo?"

Ready for what?

"I guess I am..."

Mayumi then puts her hand on my shoulder

"Goodbye Tatseyo" - Is the last thing I hear before everything around us changes

VOOM

Hum...

We're no longer at the room, this is a sidewalk

We are in front of the hardware store!

"So... you can teleport?"

[Ding ding ding! You are a smart one]

She's not opening her mouth, I can hear her voice in my head

Teleport and telepathy, this girl sure is a box full of surprises

"Thanks for the 'ride', I'll go home then"

As I prepare to leave her voice calls me

[Wait, can I make you company until we get to your house?]

Huh? That's weird, I don't have any reason to reject though

"Yes, no problem, but why?"

[Liliana-sama seems to have quite an interest on you, so there are things I wish to discuss, you can ask me too if there's anything you wanna know]

Actually there are a bunch of things I want to know from a person like her too

"Okay, but could you do me a favour?"

[Yes, what is it?]

"Can you please speak to me like you were doing back with Liliana-san and the others?"

She opens her mouth and speaks normally

"Oh... why? Does it scares you? Fufufufu"

"No, it's just, isn't it tiresome to use your power all the time like this?"

I can use my powers for a long time with no problem, as long as I don't go 100 for a very long time, but I know some espers that get tired if they push too much.

She has a surprised expression

"Not actually... but thanks for worrying"

"Also, it's got nothing to do with you, but telepathy conversation reminds of someone I don't like very much"

The image of the pink short haired girl shows up in my mind

She smiles

"Okay, let's talk normally then, you sure are an interesting person, fufufufu"

She walks by my side as we make our way towards my house, as I already mentioned, all devils I've met in this town are beauties and she is no exception, the long purple hair, her matching eyes, the fair skin and delicate features, evertyhing makes her a real traditional beauty. Which I think it's a contrast to Liliana's more exotic appearance

I almost forget that there was something I needed to ask

"Right... so I wanted to know, why did you became a devil? Were all of you unsatisfied with the human world or do you have some sort of life debt with Liliana-san?"

"Fufufu, I guess we could say we own our lifes to her in one way or another, she showed us a new way of living, a way where we could control our powers and use it not only to fulfil our desires and hers, but also in benefit of others to keep the balance of this world, that is something that interests you too, is it not?"

She is right, I do want to use my power to help others somehow and if it can help to discover and achieve my personal goals, then it's all the better

"Yes, and about what Liliana-san said to me earlier, do you think she can help me to use my power to it's fullest?"

She gives a confident smile

"If it's Liliana-sama, I am sure she'll find a way, if she doesn't know it already"

Really? Can that girl be already so many steps ahead of us?

"You talk about her as if she was some sort of mastermind..."

"Fufufu, I wouldn't say a mastermind, but... oh well, you'll find out soon enough, won't you?"

"Well, I'll be joining your team, right?"

She nods her head

"Right, just not as a devil?"

"No, not as a devil"

"Uhm..."

Mayumi stops as if she's thinking for a while

"Tatseyo, are you still suspicious of us?"

I shake my head

"I believe you are telling me the truth and I do believe that you are holding the best interest of this world at heart, but to me... giving up on my humanity is not simply a matter of right of wrong, it's something unfathomable, I've never even considered doing"

To most normal people, being human is something, how should I put? Natural? They probably take it for granted, but to me, and probably to other espers as well, who lived lifes surrounded by supernatural creatures, being human is more than just our species, it's something that defines us as who we are.

"Huhuhuhu"

I hear Mayumi laughing

"Uh? Did I said something funny?"

She waves her hand

"You are very interesting indeed, to some, being human in a world where there are supernatural creatures could be seen as a disadvantage or even a hassle, but to you, being human is like a privilege, am I right?"

I tilt my head

"Privilege? I wonder, to me it might be even more, it's who I am. During my whole life I fought as an Esper, but also as a human who defends humankind from evil beings, even if I'm working with devils now, my mission hasn't changed and I'm still me"

"Oh my... mission? Sounds arduous, fufufufu"

I then realize the weight of my words

'Mission'... have I ever considered exorcism or battling as a mission?

No, to me, it was more of an obligation, if you have power to fight evil and help people, you have to do it, this was my philosophy, not a mission, but an obligation. Did the things I just learned changed my views that much already?

"Sorry, I didn't wanted it to sound like that, it's just that after what Liliana-san and Azazel told me, I can't help but feel like this is the right decision to take, it is the fate of the world after all, right?"

Mayumi has an approving smile on her face

"I'm glad you are willing to trust us and join forces, but I have a question for you Tatseyo"

"Huh? To me?"

She nods

"To you, what does being human means now?"

"Uhm?"

I make a confused face

She lifts a finger in the air

"Up untill now, you thought that humans were right and those who sided with humans were good and that we devils were evil, and those who disturbed humans were wrong. But now you know that there are humans trying to disturb the balance of this world and devils like us who are trying to stop them. So what does being human, being 'you', means now, for you to be willing to reject the chance of becoming something else?"

I stop for a moment, her words have reached a spot that I currently don't know how to answer

"Fufufu, you don't have to make such a complicated face, it's something you should think and answer to yourself before saying it to anyone else. I hope it didn't bothered you"

I shake my head

"Not at all, I think you just said something important... even if I can't answer it now"

As I dwell in what she just told me, the images of mom and dad come to mind

"Actually there's another thing..."

"It's about your mom and dad, am I right?"

"Bullseye, I don't think they would like if I became one of the beings they have been battling for decades. Actually, father is an easygoing guy, he probably wouldn't mind as long as I'm not hurting innocents, so the greatest problem would be mom, I wouldn't discard the possibility of she crushing me the moment she heard I became a devil, maybe she wouldn't like the fact of me even aiding you all"

I imagine mom with her scary green aura and cold eyes looking at me while saying 'I don't have a child'.

I shiver at the thought, I really don't want to get on my parents bad side.

"But it would be okay if we explain it to them wouldn't it? I mean, you were trying to kill us devils not long ago and now you are even considering the possibility of becoming one."

"It's different, I believe in what you told me because I don't see why any of you would lie to me, but mom, even though she's a tsundere, loves us very much, if she finds out that you managed to take me to the devil's side, I don't know if she would trust us that easily."

"I see, a protective mother can be really scary sometimes"

She has no idea

"You have no idea..."

She then puts a serious expression

"But Tatseyo, you can act with us even if you are human, so this day might never come, but there might be a day when you'll be forced to make a choice"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Me and the others joined Liliana-sama because we saw on her an opportunity to be something more, but there are many reincarnated devils whose circunstances were not so kind."

"What circunstances?"

She has a rather sad expression when answering me

"Do you know the conditions that made Hyoudou, Asia and some of the other members of Rias' peerage reincarnate as devils?"

I shake my head

"No, I thought they had simply decided to join her because they didn't saw value in being human"

"Well, the evil pieces have properties that can even bring someone back to life, that way you don't need permission to make someone your servant"

"R-really? Don't tell me that Rias..."

Mayumi is quick to dismiss my line of thought

"No, no, she didn't killed them... but someone else did. Hyoudou and Asia were murdered by fallen angels due to their sacred gear powers, Rias Gremory was the one who brought them back as devils using her evil pieces."

"W-what? They were killed because of their sacred gears?"

I wide my eyes in shock and ask in disbelief

"A tragic fate, many sacred gear users are killed by evil devils and fallen angels because they fear theirs powers, some even before they can manifest it..."

I gulp down, so the reason why they are devils now is because there was no one around to protect them? No one like mother, father or me around...

Heroes are not omniscient... lots of things that could be stopped happen simply because we weren't there

"You are making a face as if you are uncomfortable"

"It's just... there was no one to help them, right? Do you think if there was someone to stop the fallen angels, they wouldn't have... died?"

Mayumi closes her eyes for a moment as if she's thinking

"Well, I could say something about fate, but could it be that you are blaming yourself for something you couldn't have know at the time?"

I look down when answering

"There's no way I could have know about, I know that, but I think how it would be if I could have done something..."

Mayumi smiles

"It's a beautiful thought to have but..."

She looks me in the eye

"If you had done that, then many people could have died"

"What?"

I'm taken back by her sudden answer

"If you had done that, then Hyoudou and Asia probably wouldn't have become devils, but even if fate wouldn't act in any other way, many other lifes would have been lost because of that. Hyoudou can only use the power of the Sekiryuutei because of his training and devil constitution, Rias' team also overcame many adversities because of Asia's incredible healing skills, like us, they fight against the terrorists from the Khaos Brigade and saved the lifes of not only devils and other supernatural beings, but many humans have been saved by their actions as well. Do you get where I'm getting at?"

I nod my head, I don't think she's trying to convince me to become a devil, it's like there's more to her words. Man, do all telepaths like mind games?

"Good things can come from bad things?"

Mayumi answers with a satisfied smile

"Exactly, sometimes sacrifices are necessary to achieve a greater good, sometimes not being able to save everyone isn't the end of the world"

I can understand what she's saying, but to me it's still hard to cope with it

"Also, neither of them are unhappy with their current life, right? Rias is a kind devil, she took them in and they live happily with her"

"I see, I'm glad they are happy as devils, but even so, these were life and death situations, do you think it would be the same to me?"

She waves her hand in front of her face

"No, not at all, I wasn't trying to convince you to become one of us, but you do have another weakness that has become fairly obvious now, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

I tilt my head in confussion, is she talking about the poison?

"Human life, that's why you jumped into that battle, right?"

Ah, so that's what she's talking about

"You might not have realized it, but jumping into a battle with demons that have already faced you and new demons whose power you didn't know, have the courage to take them all alone and even lock yourself inside a building with them shows that you care about other people's lifes a lot, enough for it to become a weakness"

"R-really?"

When I did that, I was just doing what I thought was right, I never stopped to actually think about that in this way

"Are you telling me this is a bad thing?"

She shakes her head

"Not at all, it is actually very good, I hope you can think about us like that as well, it would be reassuring if you could fight for us with the same fierceness as you fought for those heroes"

I nod

"Of course I will, there's no way I would turn my back to people who are trying to do the right thing, to me, you all now are as precious as any human"

I'm telling the truth, these devils who I misdjudged are actually trying to protect this world from threats, they are heroes, they feel and prize this world just as much as me.

She gives a pleasant smile

"I'm glad, but be careful, sometimes treasuring things too much can lead to bad consequences"

I know that

"But don't take it too seriously, I just wanted you to understand that sometimes, things will happen, death was an extreme example, but things can go other ways, or not. I'm just saying that if someday you have to choose between your humanity and... well, something else, you should be ready to make your decision, after all, your humanity means a lot to you, right?"

I nod, this is truly a weird conversation, but I can see her point

"I understand, but trust me, I'll protect, this world, humans, devils and my humanity, don't take me lightly, even if it means that I have to become stronger than I already am, I won't back down on it. I wasn't there to help Hyoudou or Asia, but now I am here, and no matter who I have to kill or what I have to destroy, for this world's sake, for the sake of those who live in peace on it and for my sake as well, I'll do it."

"Oh my..."

Her smile faded and a suprised expression appeared on her face, oh shit, did my face scared her?

"Uh, sorry, I said something weird, right? Did I scared you?"

She waves her hand and gives a cheerful, light hearted laugh

"Not at all, fufufu, to say all of this with such confidence... you really are an interesting person"

I don't really understand what she meant by that, but I take it as a compliment.

As we finish our conversation, I see my house in the distance and point towards it

"That's where I live"

"Ah, guess that's goodbye for today then, it was nice talking to you Tatseyo"

"The same goes for me, by the way, what is your full name?"

I've been calling her by the first name since we arrived, I thought it was fine since she was doing the same

"Mayumi Kanagawa, I am Liliana-sama's [Queen], pleased to meet you"

"Tatseyo Kageyama, it is my pleasure"

As I turn to get inside my house I hear her voice calling me

"Just one more thing Tatseyo"

I look behind me and she is holding a leaflet with a pentagram similar to the one Liliana-san used to me transport us to the old building.

"You don't know how to contact us right?"

Oh she's right, I have no idea how to talk to them

"Ah, yeah."

"Take this"

"Is this a transportation circle like before?"

She nods

"Yes, soon we'll be contacting you to come to our base, meanwhile, turn the paper"

I turn it and the back is blank, aside from two telephone numbers written on it

"Liliana-sama already has your number, so we also must give you a way to talk to us."

I decided that I'd rather not know how Liliana-san got my number

"I see, so this is Liliana's number?"

"Well, the first one is our base's phone number, tell them your name and that you are looking for Liliana Caim and she will pick it up, but the second one..."

She gives a playful smile before continuing

"Is my own cellphone number, fufufufu"

What? I wouldn't think much of it but her laugh just changed the whole context of the situation!

"Ah, t-thanks, I hope we can work well with each other"

"Me too, I'm looking forward to knowing you better, goodnight Tatseyo-kun"

She says before disappearing

I get inside my house and close the door behind me

"Ahhh..."

I give out a heavy breath

"What in the world was that!?"

The whole conversation was going on normally untill she gave me her number!

I know I shouldn't think much of it, but the way she delivered it was just...

Wait, the hell she meant with 'I'm looking forward to know you better'? I don't know if it's my over analyzing side seeing double meaning on things or if she really meant something with that!

First the thing with Liliana and now this...

Ah, I'm gonna take a cold shower! This is no time to be thinking about this!

After sinking into the bathtub, I remember the conversation me and Mayumi had

[What does being human means to you now?]

I also record the things Liliana said to me

[You can become more powerful than you ever thought possible]

And with that, Kuriko's words in that night

[You'll meet a dark devil who will change your whole view of the world]

It seems you were right Kuriko, Liliana Caim, the dark devil, who is nothing like I predicted, turned my world upside down right at the day we met. Frankly, what a mess.

Ah, I just rememberd now that never thanked Liliana for what she did! I gotta do that next time I see her

Wait, working with her means I'll have to be with her constantly right?

Then the scene on the corridor plays on my mind and I can feel my face getting red, this is going to be complicated...

This marks the beginning of my life after finding out the truth about this world and my work with Liliana Caim, the dark devil girl who changed my life.

 **Afterword** : First of all, I'm pleasantly surprised that there were reviewers saying that I shouldn't make Tatseyo a devil, but a bit disappointed at my writing because I didn't want to give the impression that I would do this now. One of the themes that I found to be very underexplored in DxD is the value of humanity and what it means, Strada was the one who most dwelled about it and Cao Cao talked about it too, but it should be way more discussed in the series. After all, in a world where anyone can become a supernatural creature at almost anytime, what value does humanity have? These are themes that I'm looking to explore in this fic, so don't worry, **IF** I decide to turn Tatseyo into an non-human, you bet I'll do my best to give him a good reason to do so and it won't happen so soon. And sorry for taking so long explaining things that are already know to DxD readers, but I do enjoy reading and writing about the reactions of the OCs at their new discoveries, so I don't like when writers just skip it.

I also wanted to warn you all about something, most of my readers read my work at fanfiction .net, if you are reading at this site, I wanted to tell you that in the Wattpad version I am using pictures in the story and I'll use it in some future chapters too. It won't affect at all the flux of the story or have any impact other than to illustrate some characters or scenarios, but I thought I should say it. If anyone likes the art and wants to know where it came from, just ask me


	23. Modern heroes?

"Cao Cao-sama, we have returned with the reports"

The leader of the Hero Faction had a pleased expression

"Impressive! Since you all came back I assume you managed to defeat the Gremory and Sitri peerages or at least achieve your Balance Breakers!"

"We are sorry sir, those devils got us on the brink of defeat, but we are very thankful for the reinforcements!"

"Rein... forcements? What are you talking about?"

Confused glances are exchanged between the soldiers of the Hero Faction

"The boy you sent to protect us, we don't know who he is but taking in account his strength we believed he might had been sent by you or Ophis"

"I don't know nothing about that and I doubt Ophis would send someone, since she doesn't even knew about your mission"

"Sir, forgive me for my insolence, but are you sure? That boy saved our lifes after we told him we were heroes, he even had the whole Gremory aand Sitri peerages on the grips of death right before they teleported him, by what our agents told us, so I can't imagine anyone besides a member of the Khaos Brigade who would have done something like this"

"Defeat both peerages alone? You know where this boy is now?"

"No sir, our agents managed to track him to the place where he was teleported, but there was no fight in the place, so we assume he was either killed or managed to kill his captors without alerting the humans who lived in the area, but probably the later"

"I see... that's interesting, I would like to meet this kid, did he gave any names?"

"We only heard the first name sir, the devils also called him an esper and he said he was the son of a woman named Tatsumaki"

Cao Cao's eyes widened and a laugh came out of his mouth

"So the modern heroes also have descendants? Interesting, very interesting indeed..."


	24. Clearing things up

**Part 1**

It's the next day, I wake up and get ready to go to school

I spent a lot of time thinking about what to tell Rias and her peerage today.

I don't know what Azazel told them, but I hope that it was at least enough to make them not want to kill me. I know it might be asking a lot though, since I almost did it exactly that to them

"Oh..."

Speaking of the devil, literally, Rias' group was standing on the front gate of the school as I approached it, I think about turning back, but it's useless, I'll have to talk to them sooner or later

"...erm...Hi"

I awkwardly greet them

"Hi..."

I don't know what to say, so I'll do the only thing I know I have to.

"I'm sorry!"

I bow towards them

"Azazel and Liliana-san explained everything to me, I didn't knew, I'm really sorry"

Rias comes forward and puts her hand on my shoulder

"It's fine"

I lift my head to look at her

"Really?"

She nods

"Azazel explained everything to us, you thought that the members of the Hero faction were your hero friends right?"

"Yes, but now I know the truth, I am sorry"

I say as I return to my normal posture

"Don't worry, you are not the first ally who tried to kill us first anyway"

Issei says while smiling, did they really went through that many life or death situations?

"But I would like you to come to our club this afternoon so we could talk better about it, is that okay?" - Rias asks me

I nod my head

"Yes, I think it would be the best if I could explain myself to all of you"

"So, we'll see you later, goodbye, Kageyama-kun"

"See you in class then, Kageyama-kun!"

Issei waves and walks off with Rias and her friends

I also walk towards the highschool building, but as I'm in midway, I notice three familiar faces looking towards me

It's the two boys and the girl that invited me to eat with them the other day

I walk towards my three new friends

"Hi!"

"Hey Tatseyo, thought you were gonna ditch us for the popular crew"

"Hahaha! I only had a thing to talk with Rias, I'm not on their level yet"

"You seemed awfully familiar with them..."

Kanae says with a suspicious face

I smile at her

"Actually, I beat the shit out of them until they became my friends"

She sighs at my answer

"If you don't wanna answer us it's fine, just don't say such a creepy thing while smiling"

"Hahaha, sorry"

I say while scratching the back of my head, it's not a total lie you know.

"Let's go Tatseyo, we're gonna be late like that" - Eizo speaks

"Alright"

I follow them towards classroom

I'm not a devil, I'm a human and I value that, I'll become friends with humans like me and have a good time with them!

"Hey Tatseyo, you know the school's gonna have a trip to Kyoto right? Are you going?"

I already went to Kyoto once, though going with friends and not for work might make it a much better experience

"Yes! I'll go with you all"

"Awesome! That makes us four then, just one more person and our group is complete"

We walk into classroom and class starts

 **Part 2**

During class I can feel something

...Someone is staring at me

TURNS

"Ih!"

Irina gives a small cry before covering her face with a book

Xenovia on the other hand is glaring daggers at me and does not avert her gaze

The angel girl is probably the one with most reason to hate me, I did brutally ripped of her wings, and Xenovia seems to be good friends with her, so she must hate me as well, shit, that's not how I wanted my first school week to be like.

(Look, Xenovia and the deliquent are exchanging stares)

(Scary! Did they became rivals already?)

(Perhaps he harassed Xenovia!)

What's up with these conclusions?!

(Maybe they are in a love-hate relation!)

I hear one of the girls saying

(The deliquent and the tomboy!)

What the fuck? Is that how rumours are spread in this school?

(Will they have an after class showdown?)

Do you think this is West Side Story?!

(Oh, shut up)

I say it under my breath and try to focus on my book, but then I hear footsteps in the hallway, followed by the door opening and a girl with glasses and long black hair walking in, she's the mirror girl, her name was Shinra, right?

Her eyes scout the classroom untill finally laying on me

"Excuse me sensei, but Sona Shitori-kaichou is requesting Tatseyo Kageyama's presence in the Student Council"

"Uh?"

The teacher stops writing in the board and turns back to look at me and, as if following his cue, all the other students also turn their heads to me

I already know what this means, they think I did something bad...

Oh wait, I did something bad, didn't I? That's why she's calling me

"A-alright then, Kageyama-kun, you can go"

I stand up and go towards her, the eyes of the students following me all the way until I close the door behind me

"So... I was told your name was Shinra, right?"

I try to talk with her as we make our way to the Student Council room

"Yes, I am Shinra Tsubaki, Sona kaichou's [Queen] and the vice-president of the Student Council, it's a pleasure to meet you"

So polite!

"I-I'm Tatseyo Kageyama and I'm an esper, ah, you already know that..."

I really don't know what to say to her after what I did

"I'm really sorry for that"

The girl nods and answers me

"We understand your situation, you believed that those men were your allies and therefore you ran to help them, I... no, we would have done the same thing if we believed an ally was threatened, so we decided not to blame you for that, but Kaichou still wants to see you"

"I see, thank you then..."

It's all I can think of saying. I'm glad they aren't holding a grudge against me, but I'm still awkward on how to act towards them

"Erhm, Shinra Tsubaki, are you from the Shinra clan?"

A famous clan of exorcists also goes by the name of Shinra, it's a shot in the dark but I don't think it's a coincidence

She nods

"Yes, I was a exorcist for the Shinra clan, but because of my sacred gear, I caused great problem to my family"

Is she talking about that mirror skill?

"What happened?"

She looks bitterly at the floor before continuing

"My Sacred Gear is not only able to reflect an opponent's attacks, but also contact the spiritual world, when I had no control over it I use to summon evil spirits and they would rampage until stopped"

That's a terrible story, but I can actually relate to that, most espers can

"That's very sad, I'm sorry to hear that."

Tsubaki shakes her head

"Don't be, thankfuly I met Sona-kaichou and after joining her I was able to master this power, I don't have this problem anymore"

Her bitter expression and the sadness of her eyes disappeared when she mentioned Sona's name, I guess it really was a glimpse of hope to her, huh?

"That's very good then... but is your clan alright with it?"

Her expression changes to one of doubt but she gives me an answer with certainty in her voice

"I don't know, but I also don't care, I decided I would be with Kaichou since she helped me to save my own life and the others around me"

Hah, that's actually touching, Sona doesn't seem like a bad person after all

"I see, this is actually very good, I wish we could do this for all of the other espers out there..."

Shinra gives me a questioning look

"Sorry, I don't think I understand it"

I shake my head

"Ah yeah, of course not, you didn't knew anything about espers, right? Well, the thing is that espers tend to attract supernatural beings, usually this freaks out young espers that don't understand their powers and don't have anyone to talk with them about it, this can lead to very problematic situations, such as kids being sent to mental health institutions, being avoided by their families and... other bad things"

I say that as bitter memories run through my head, the esper organization tries to locate and aid as soon as possible anyone who shows any sign of psychic abilities, but of course, we can't save everyone.

But those we do save, really make us feel like we did something good

[We can help you Yatsushiro-kun, I know it's scary, I've been where you are now, but if you trust us, we can explain and help you master this power, you won't be scared anymore if you're with us, it's a promise. I'll be your friend and make sure that everyone will treat you nicely here]

Those words from when I met Ayumu, I'm thankful for saying them, because of that I was able to help someone who is one of my closest friends today

"Azazel actually told us about the attraction of supernatural beings, but I didn't imagined it caused so much trouble to all of you, I am very sorry."

"Don't be, we'll do what we can, I'll help anyone who is in need, that's why I came to your side, right?"

Shinra gives me an approving smile before nodding

"Yes, I look forward to work with you, Kageyama-kun"

With that, we arrive at the Student Council room and she opens the door, announcing our presence

"Kaichou, I brought him"

I walk inside and see several members of the Sitri looking at me, in the middle of the room is the short haired girl with glasses, Liliana never told me exactly who she was, but from the way she was acting during the battle, I could tell she was the leader.

Nobody says anything after Shinra's introduction, but anyone would notice the weird feeling in the room, it's as if nobody knows exactly what to say

"Sitri group, I was looking forward to meet you, I hope you can forgive me for what I've done" - I say while bowing towards them

No one says anything, but the atmosphere seems to have eased somewhat

"It's not a problem, I am Sona Shitori, president of the studenct council, please sit down"

She signs to a chair opposite to her

"Thanks, why did you want to meet me anyway?"

I ask while sitting down

"I wanted to know who you are, after Liliana-san and Azazel gave me that explanation, I was surprised at the fact that we've been attacked over a misunderstanding, so I wanted to clear things out so there are no more left"

Ah, I see, makes sense, clearing out misunderstandings is very important

"So allow me to begin, I am the [King] of my peerage, the girl that guided you here is my [Queen], Shinra Tsubaki."

"Ah, that's right, she told me, she's the user of that mirror skill, right?"

"[Mirror Alice]"

I hear from behind me

"Excuse me?"

I say turning my head towards Shinra, who's standing in front of the door

"My Sacred Gear, [Mirror Alice], allows me to revert my opponents attack's with twice the strength"

Mirro Alice... they really got creative with this name didn't they?

"I see, that's an impressive skill, really"

"Thank you, but I still got a long way to go"

She says, is she talking about the power itself? Or the ability to contact the other world?

"Eh... he told me you and Saji Genshirou are the only natural sacred gear users, right? By the way, where is he?"

All the members of the student council are here, except for the host of Vritra and the girl of the light shield

Sona makes a complicated expression

"I thought it was better to not let Saji and Yura close to you yet, I hope you can understand, they are a bit hot headed because of what happened, please give them time"

I shake my head

"No, no, don't worry, Yura-san is the girl with blue hair, right? I'm actually surprised that we can have such a meeting, I can understand their side."

In fact, this is even more than I hoped for

"Thank you, well, this is Momo Hanakai and Reya Kusaka, my [Bishops]"

The white haired and brown haired girl bowed to me

"This is Reya Kusaka, my [Knight]"

The girl with reddish hair also bows slightly to me

"And this is Ruruko Nimura, she is my [Pawn] along with Saji"

The girl follows the cue of the others and gives a small bow, so I take it that Yura-san is her [Rook]?

"It's a pleaseure meeting all of you, thanks for treating me well"

I say it greeting them

"And you are Sona Sitri, correct? But your human name is Shitori?"

It got me confused when Liliana said she was a member of the Sitri clan when everyone in the school calls her Shitori

"Correct, I'd rather avoid my clan's name in my academic life, here I am simply Sona Shitori and I would appreciate if you'd call me that in public"

I nod, it make me happy that at least _someone_ is making an effort at hiding their demonic nature

"No problem"

She adjusts her glasses

"Well, now that we made things clear about ourselves, there's something I wish to know from you..."

"Alright, what is it?"

Sona interlinks her fingers in a sign that she's ready to ask something

"Tatseyo Kageyama, are you really a deliquent?"

"W-what?!"

I ask suprised, the rumours have already reached the Student Council?!

She answers in a concerned tone

"There have been rumours around the school that the new boy with the scary looks is a deliquent with a frightening air around him, I'm sorry to ask, but that's you, isn't it?"

I take a long sigh, yes, as much as I don't want it to be. I've never been on a normal school life before so I had no idea rumours could spread this fast and be this bad, sometimes it seems that there are people so outright afraid of me they won't even walk in front of me in the hallways

"Ye-yeah, but I'm not a deliquent! People assume that because of my face..."

Sona makes a troubled expression followed by an 'Oh'

"Sorry about that, if you were having trouble with someone we could do something about it, but we can't stop rumors from spreading"

I wave my hand in front of my face

"Don't worry, it's not something I'm not aware of, I know I'm scary, you even said it yourself, I can't blame the other students for having the wrong assumption, people are like that. It's not like anyone is causing me trouble because of it"

It's actually the opposite, everyone seems to be avoiding even interacting with me out of fear

"Frankly, the students in this school are so quick to spread rumours..."

I hear Hanakai saying

Sona nods, agreeing with her servant

"It can't be helped, I'm glad Kageyama-kun can understand, I'm sorry but I had to ask, deliquents are a problem in any school, but it would be especially bad if it was you...

She was suspicious, I can't blame her though, not only she's the president of the student council, she's also a devil, so a deliquent esper is probably one of the things that would cause her the most trouble

"I understand your point, but don't worry, I'm not a deliquent and I don't see you as my enemies anymore, Liliana-san and that fallen angel Azazel explained everything to me."

"That's good, so I'll be frank with you too then..."

She throws me a sharp glance

"Azazel told us that you are at our side now and you'll be working with Liliana Caim-san against the Khaos Brigade, am I correct?"

Straight to point I see

"Yes, I... think I have a debt with you after what I did, also, after hearing your story, with the death of God and this war you are currently facing, even if I can't understand everything, I can't simply stand around doing nothing"

She furrows her eyebrows

"Is that all?"

I stop and think about what to say

'I can make you become stronger than you can imagine' - This is what Liliana said to me

Those words rang in my head for the whole night

That girl, I mean, that devil who I never met before knows ways of using my powers that even I don't know about

I'm longing to know more about my own power, so if there is a hiden war going on and I can help on it while becoming more powerful, then I can't simply turn back to it

And I also to learn about her as well.

Liliana Caim... who is she? How much she knows about me? What kind of world she'll show to me? All this questions rattle on my brain and it makes it impossible for me to just turn back and pretend I didn't see anything.

As you must have noticed, I am a very curious man, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, but I cannot simply stop myself from wanting more of this new world I just met

Should I tell her that? Or should I lie to her?

"Power..."

"What?"

"Because of my power"

"Your power? Because you're an esper?"

I nod

"While I was with her she showed me a way to use my power that I didn't know, she also said I could become stronger than I can imagine"

"As long as you are with her, I take it?"

She's smart

"Yes"

She makes a pleased expression

"Well, this is great, at our current situation people with drive and power such as yours are always welcome, as long as you don't use it against us... again"

"I'm sorry about that"

"It's alright, but... do you really trust Liliana-san?"

She hitted the point I didn't wanna tell her about, but I'm sincerely surprised, I thought all devils knew each other

Now that I'm listening to myself, that was racist, wasn't it?

"Why is that? Is she somehow infamous in the underworld?"

She shakes her head

"Not at all, in fact it's quite the contrary, she is rather famous even though little is truly know about her. The Caim family is among the ones with most influence in the underworld and human world, it's no secret to us that they are behind a lot of business and famous brands humans and devils often consume, but aside from that, not much is know about them"

"Not much?"

I thought these devils would be a close community, but apparently they are not very close to people outside their "families"

"Not much at all, in fact she's a girl who is hard to understand, while devils were recruiting Sacred Gear users and other creatures, she went for espers..."

She then makes a pause

"...No offense"

I shake my head

"No problem"

It was hard for me as well to understand Liliana's motivation, espers have the power to identify supernatural beings even if they try to hide their presence from us, our powers also make us naturals when it comes to exorcise or harm them, that's why I don't know why she would want to hang around us so freely

Sona keeps talking

"Not only that, but the goals of her house and why she takes such strange attitudes is a matter of uncertain and concern in the underworld."

I nod

"I understand what you're talking about, but sincerely there's nothing much to what I can add to. I probably know less about her than you do."

She adjusts her glasses

"I know, all I want to say with this is be careful Kageyama-kun, I don't think Liliana-san is a bad person, but the world you just joined is a harsh one. If you desire power, I believe Liliana Caim can give it to you, just be careful."

I'm happy listening to her words, she might seem like a cold girl, but she actually cares about my safety

"Thank you Sona-kaichou, I look forward to work at the alliance's side."

"That's good to hear, well I think it's time for you to go back to class."

"Oh, can I ask something? Please don't take it as an insult..."

She nods

"By all means, ask"

"Does the Student Council really has the authority to pull someone who did nothing wrong out of class?"

I've never been in a normal school before, but I found it weird that the teacher agreed so easily to let me out of his class

Sona smiles

"Ah that, well Kageyama-kun, the Gremory and Sitri are not only on the background of this school, we actually founded it. Gremory rules the academy during the day while Sitri rules it at night. We have authorization to do a lot of things normal schools wouldn't let us to"

I wide my eyes in surprise, so they are not infiltrated in the school, but it also actually belongs to them?!

"I-I see then, thanks, I'll be sure to not get myself in trouble"

I say as I'm stading up from the chair, but Sona motions for me to wait

"Before you leave..."

She says as she takes a spoon in her hands

"Do you think you could...?"

What? She really wants me to do that?!

"Serious? Haven't you seem enough of it?"

She adjusts her glasses and hands the spoon to me

"I'd rather see it when it's not being used against me"

... Oh well, why not?

I lift the spoon in the air and make it bend in several directions, twisting it into a knot and make it return to normal before floating it back to her

"Wow!"

"That's incredible!"

"So that's ESP..."

Sona's peerage is speaking as if they are impressed, you guys know that these are just tricks, right? It's a basic for any esper

Sona takes the spoon back with an impressed look on her face

"Amazing, I can't sense even the slightest trace of magic, so this is telekinesis..."

"Can I go now?"

"Okay, by the way, can we call you Tatseyo?" - she asks me

I nod and answer

"Of course, thank you, Sona-kaichou"

I leave the student council room and go to classroom

When I get back, I notice that the other students are still giving me weird glances, well it can't be helped.

I'll just stay quiet and go through class so I can meet with Rias and her peerage later

 **Part 3**

Class is over, I start to pack my materials and get ready to go to the Occult Research Club

I told Issei, Asia, Xenovia and Irina to go before me on purpose, I wanna avoid any interaction with them until we have things cleared up, I particulary don't wanna be left alone with Xenovia, from all of them, she was the one who seems to hate me the most, I understand why, but I think it will take quite a lot to convince her I'm on their side.

"Hey Tatseyo, wanna go home with us?"

Kanae asks

"No, sorry, I have a thing I have to do before leaving, it's gonna take some time so it's better if you all go ahead."

I hide the fact that I will go to the ORC obviously, hanging around with them would attract way too much attention

"Alright, see you tomorrow Tatseyo"

"Bye Tatseyo"

"Later dude"

The three wave me goodbye and leave

I keep thinking about what I'm gonna say as I make me way, I don't know what Azazel told them so I don't know how much they know and how much they don't.

"Excuse me" - I say opening the door and walking in

Everyone is here, including Rossweisse sensei and Azazel

"Welcome to the Occult Research Club, Kageyama-kun"

Rias says this while sipping a cup of tea

"Would you like some?"

Akeno holds a kettle while asking

"Uh... no, I'm good, thanks"

For a moment I consider accepting, but after being poisoned by Liliana when we first met there's no way I'll drink or eat anything from the people I nearly killed. C'mon, some healthy suspicion is okay isn't it?

"Alright" - she says as she puts the kettle back in the wheel cart

Everyone in the room is looking at me

"Well, I guess introductions are in order..."

Rias says

"I am Rias Gremory, heir of the Gremory family and this are my servants, Akeno Himejima, my [Queen], Kiba Yuuto and Xenovia Quarta, my [Kinghts], Koneko Toujo and Rossweisse, my [Rooks], Asia Argento and Gasper Vladi, my [Bishops] and Issei Hyoudou, my [Pawn]

Huh, she has more members on her peerage than Liliana and Sona kaichou, I wonder if that's because Liliana only works with espers...

"It's a pleasure to meet you all... what you guys want to know about me?"

Rias smiles

"We invited you, maybe we should answer your questions first?"

She really has a noble air around her

"No, I insist, after all the trouble I've caused the least I can do is answer any questions you may have"

She closes her eyes for a while and speaks

"Very well, the first thing that got me confused when we met you was that you were not giving off any killing intent or aura. But at your first day at this school I felt a really strong energy similar to yours that disappeared quickly and on your second day as well, was it you or there are other espers in this town?"

I see, so she did felt my energy when we first met and also when I used my clairsentience to localize the devils in this school

"Yes, in all occasions it was me, the first was when I realized this school was overflowing with demonic energy. I used my aura to supress it and after I felt the presence of you, Hyoudou and Yuuto, I was getting ready to fight"

"So... you were ready to kill us even before we met?"

Rias asks, even though everyone in the room has a worried expression, she seems relaxed, is it because she trusts me or because she feels like she's in control here?

"...Yes"

I answer embarassed

"And why you didn't do it?"

"You all looked like normal humans and didn't pose any immediate threat, so I thought it maybe could be something else like a possession or a curse, also because I didn't want to use my powers in front of all those students"

Rias nods

"So it was that, and what about the second time?"

That was when I searched for all the supernatural beings of this school

"Oh, that! Wait a minute, I think I still have it with me"

I reach for my backpack

"I used my power to check the school area for any kind of evil presence in order to detect how many of you were and where did you gather, in the end I got this"

I hand to Rias the map of Kuoh academy with all the places where the inhuman presences were stronger and all the classes that have devils on it highlighted, there are also red dots to identify how many devils where in that area.

Rias looks at it with a suprised expression

"Oh my... that's impressive, you actually did a lot of investigative work..."

"So you were able to tell where all of us are?" - I hear Irina asking me

"Yes, even if it's miles away, I can pinpoint the exact area where anyone is based on their energy, I can also track lost objects if I know what I'm looking for"

"Your kind calls it Clairvoyance right?" - Azazel asks

I shake my head

"No, Clairvoyance is the ability to see, it is more accurate than Clairsetience, but also more restricted since you can only see one location at a time or maybe two if you are good at it. With clairsetience I can feel any kind of presence around me in a certain distance."

Azazel nods

"I see..."

Rias then says

"The exact spot where everyone was at that time of day and also how many of us were... that's a scary power you have"

I scratch my head, not sure how to answer

She then shows me the map pointing at a specific location

"I take it that this two dots here are me and Sona?"

"Ye-yes, once I sense someone's energy I hardly ever forget it, specially one like yours"

She makes a confused face

"Uh, is there something special about it?"

Is she testing me?

"Well, yes, you are the only one here who is a pure devil right? You, Liliana-san and the student council president have the same type of energy even though your auras are very different, that's how I can make a distinction"

Rias seems even more surprised

"So you know what each of us are?"

I shake my head

"Not all of you, Hyoudou-kun had an energy that I've never felt before, that's why I got confused in the first time we met"

Issei points at himself

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes, I never faced a dragon in my entire life so I didn't know how the energy of one felt like, but it wasn't just you..."

I point at Akeno, Rossweisse and then to the little blonde girl who stopped time

"I also couldn't recognize the energy of the three of you, I know that Xenovia-san, Yuuto-kun and Asia-chan are converted humans, Irina is an angel that turned human, that Toujou-chan is a nekomata and that Azazel-sensei is a fallen angel, but you three have a energy I've never seen before"

Rias looks at her friends and nods

"Well, Rossweisse, would you mind beginning?"

"Not at all, Buchou"

She then forms a magic circle with her hands

"Before becoming a devil, I was a Valkyrie, a battle maiden serving directly at the command of the Norse God Odin"

My jaw drops at her explanation

Really? Not only Valkyries are real but the norse mythology too? I'm meeting angels and valkyries for the first time in my life, that's incredible!

"Amazing! That's amazing! You were one of the angels of death from the norse mythology? I didn't know you were real and you are telling me that you served the father of all, Odin too? You must be one hell of a warrior!"

Rossweisse blushes at my words

"A-haha, thanks, I-I-I work re-really hard you know... I'm a-also really good at norse magic and..."

"...Yet you still lost to him"

The loli nekomata interrupts Rossweisse's explanation

"...Sorry, I'm a good for nothing Valkyrie"

Rossweisse looks down

"No, not at all, I think this is amazing, you know that you fought pretty well? You resisted a good amount to my assaults and I think that your elemental attacks where awesome!"

I try to cheer her up

"Re-really?"

She looks up again

"Yes, really, but could you explain me something?"

She seems cheerful and answers me with energy

"Sure, anything, you wanna know about Norse magic? Maybe about spells? Or how life in Asgard is like?"

I make a troubled expression

"No... actually I wanna know... why you became a devil. Why you had to abbandon Valhalla?"

I'm trying to avoid this subject since Mayumi told me that tragic story about Issei and Asia, but I can't help but want to know what in the world would make a Valkyrie, a devote follower of the norse God, become a devil

Rossweisse's expression drops immediately at my question and she looks down while covering her face with her hands

Is she crying?! Was it that bad?

"Woah, Rias senpai! What have I done? Why is she sad?"

Rias sighs

"Well, when Rossweisse came to Japan she was scorting the boss of the Norse gods, Odin, but when he went back to Europe, he forgot her here so we took her in"

What? What a lame origin story is that?

"Sorry! I'm just a good for nothing woman whose age equals the years I've spent alone! Buwaaaah!"

Rossweisse starts crying

"And why she didn't went after them, called or something?"

"Well, returning after the leader might have given her a bad impression among the other valkyries, so we offered her a better payment and insurance if she came to our side"

...What? She became a devil because of a fucking paycheck?

"Is that serious, Rossweisse sensei?"

The Valkyrie finally stops crying and answers me while playing with her hair

"Yes... I didn't want to go back because everyone treated me poorly there and the Gremory's had better benefits so..."

Waaaaah! So it's true! This woman abandoned Valhalla and gave up on her divine status because of a damn paycheck! I take back everything I said, you are not amazing at all! You are just a valkyrie who was left behind by her leader and led by her greed!

That's actually a rather devilish atittude from Rias, taking advantage of someone's greed to recruit them...

"I s-see... well, how about you little girl?"

I try to hold myself back by changing the subject and asking to the little blonde girl what she was but...

"Eeeeeeh!"

She simply screams and hides... inside of a box.

"...What's up with her?"

"He doesn't like people at all" - Rias says

"He's a hikikomori" - Issei continues

So that's what he is...

Wait a minute! He?

"H-hey guys, you meant that she is a hikikomori right?"

Rias puts her hand on her forehead as if she's troubled

"Sorry, but he is definitely a boy, his name is Gasper Vladi, he's a half-human half-vampire that I took into my peerage"

What! A boy? There's no way! And a vampire?

Wait... a vampire?

Yes! A vampire!

"R-Ri-Rias, wait a second, what he did when we were battling, he stopped time didn't he?"

The redhead nods

"That's his sacred gear [Forbidden balor view], it allows him to stop the time of anything he looks at"

I'm shaking in excitement hearing her explanation

"Are you alright Kageyama-kun?"

Rias asks

"Are you telling me that this boy is a blonde, european, effeminate half-vampire with the power to stop time?"

"I'm not effeminate! I am boy!" - a voice shouts from the box

"Well, basically yes"

She answers ignoring her servant's rants

"Eeeeeh! I'm not effeminate! It's just that girl's clothes are cute!"

I'm not even paying attention as I'm nearly bursting with excitement

This boy... is a blonde, european, effeminate half-vampire with the power to stop time...

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I wanna scream this name outloud while punching him in the face!

Just thinking that I punched this boy while saying "Ora" makes me feel happy! Shit, I wish we could have exchanged some punches too!

If he just grew some muscles and some inches, maybe with some hairgel too, yes, it would be perfect!

"Hey Kageyama-kun, are you okay?"

Issei asks

"He is shaking"

Yuuto speaks

"Oh no... maybe he is a shotacon too?"

Issei says this, what he meant with ' _too'_?

"We have to protect Gasper if that's the case" - Xenovia answers him

"...But if it's Kageyama-kun I don't think we would be able to hold him back"

Toujou-chan speaks to her friend

"Ara, I think Gasper's purity might be in danger" - Himejima-senpai says it with a playful expression

"Iiiih! Leave my purity alone!" - a scared voice comes from the box

They got it all wrong!

"I'm not a shotacon! I just want to see something..."

I give up on explaining to them, they probably never watched Jojo.

"Let me see your face" - I say as I approach the box

"Nooooo!"

Two bright lights shine within the box and I'm paralysed

"Gasper is a real hikikomori, better let him get used to you slowly, ah you probably can't hear me now, can you?"

Issei says this as he takes the box and puts it in a corner of the room, he is right, if this boy can stop time then I shouldn't be able to make sense of my surroundings, it was like that during our first battle, but now I can still see and hear what is going on around me even though I am still paralyzed, does it have to do with me being an esper?

After he puts Gasper in his coner, the effect wears off and I'm able to move again

"Sorry, it's just that I've never met a vampire before, which surprises me because I thought I knew all kinds of monster and youkais"

"I'm not a monster! Uaaaah, Kageyama-kun is a bully!"

It seems that he can still hear me

"S-sorry, I didn't meant monster, it's actually awesome that you are a vampire!"

"Well, vampires are a closed community it's no surprise that even you never met one"

Rias says, a closed community, huh? That's something I can relate to.

"Aren't you more surprised at the fact that he's a boy?" - I hear Issei asking

I shrug

"Not actually, in fact I have a friend that uses to do that... a lot, so it's not a surprise that there are people like him even in this world."

Yes, I had a friend that used to crossdress, I wonder where he is now... we haven't talked in a few years

"I see, crossdressing is not such a unique habit after all... WOAH, what am I saying!? That's not good at all!"

Issei shouts as if talking to himself, I decide to change the subject again

"H-hey, Rias-senpai, how did you took him into your peerage?"

Again, stepping on a landmine, I got lucky Rossweisse's story was more ridiculous than sad, but it might not be the case with him...

Rias looks at the box with a sad expression, confirming what I feared

"The vampires take a lot of pride in the purity of their bloodline, Gasper was the child of the head of the Vladi family with a human, plus he was born with a dangerous sacred gear that can stop time, this made him become a bullied outcast and he was eventually kicked out of his own country, whhen he was wandering and lost I took him into my peerage and made him one of my [Bishops]"

Oh shit, that's very sad

"Uhm, vampires are cruel beings then..."

Rias nods

"True, even more so than devils, though there are a lot of devils who take pride in their pure-blood, some of them are what compose the devil lines of the Khaos Brigade"

I pay close attention to Rias' words, 'some of them', that means there are racist devils at our side too? I don't like this

"So... Himejima-senpai?"

I decide to change the subject and turn to Akeno

"Akeno, would you mind? If it's too much for you..."

She seems sad but still has a determined look on her face

"I promissed to accept this power, if I can't do at least this much then it would show that I didn't advanced at all"

Accept her power? What's she talking about?

Akeno turns around and her wings pop out

!

"Wow..."

I stare mesmerized at the sight of one devil and one fallen angel wing coming out of her back

"Akeno is the daughter of the fallen angel Baraqiel with a priestess, that makes her an exception among devils that is able to manipulate light and thunder to create lightning"

I hear Rias's words without taking my eyes from Akeno's back, this is amazing!

"Amazing! Simply marvellous! I didn't know devils and fallen angels could be combined, this is wonderful!"

"W-what?"

Akeno is visualy flustered

"That's a first"

Yuuto says with a chuckle

"What is it? Did I do something weird?"

"Akeno used to dislike like her fallen angel side..."

Azazel says

"Azazel!"

Akeno tries to scold him, but I interrupt her

"Why not? It's amazing, I never knew a fallen angel could become a devil, this sure is something else! So that's why you can use light powers as well and you said you are the daughter of the Baraqiel from the bible? Impressive, the Gremory team sure has amazing people on it!"

"Tha-thank you, I guess..."

Akeno seems to have lost her onee-sama composture, it's like she doesn't know how to react. Did I said something weird?

"Kageyama-kun, you are impressed, but your family has fought against some amazing monsters"

Irina says it to me

"Thank you but... the fact that I battled against monsters, youkais and evil spirits and never knew about the existence of you guys makes it even more amazing, I believed that I knew almost everything about the other world, having revealed to me that there's a lot more than I ever imagined possible is kinda scary I admit, but it also makes me excited"

"Hahaha, you sound like an adventurer" - Azazel laughs at my remark

"...Did you said youkai?"

Toujou-chan asks with a suspicious expresion

"I've been wondering about that as well Kageyama-kun, getting rid of youkais was part of your job as well right?"

Oh shit... looks like I stepped on a landmine, Toujou-chan is a youkai and I've exorcised a lot of youkais, this might make her suspicious of me.

"Y-yes, we espers work as "gun for hire" for several organizations as long as we get paid, not only the church but temples, shrines and people who can't or don't want to contact religious instituions use to call us, so as job I exorcised youkais as well"

I turn to Toujou who is making a sad expression as if she wants to ask something

"Did you..."

She says but stops before finishing her sentence

"Did I? You can ask me anything Toujou-chan, I'll answer it"

Yuuto-kun sighs

"I think Koneko-chan wants to know if you ever exorcised one of her kind"

Oh crap

"...Yes, you said you already knew that I was a nekomata, this must mean that you..."

Shit, she looks really sad! I don't want to, but I promised I would say the truth

I look down and say it

"Yes... I've already exorcised some nekomatas, not a lot of them, but a few met their fate by my hands. I'm sorry"

All the nekomata I've exorcised weren't exactly saints, after all, people won't want to get rid of you if you aren't doing anything bad. But I don't think I should say that to Toujou-chan.

"...I see"

That is all she answers me. Sorry, I'm really sorry for making such a cute girl sad!

"Actually, Toujou-chan, can I make you a question, now?"

She has a sad look so I don't wanna push her, but I have a doubt on my head since the first time I've saw her in her nekomata form

"...What is it?"

"Eh... I know I might be saying an absurd but, are you perhaps... a nekoshou?"

I ask without exactly knowing how to put it

Her eyes wide in surprise

"H-how did you know?"

She says in a frightned voice, I can see that she is clearly nervous when talking about it

"You know about the Nekoshou, Kageyama-kun?"

I nod

"Y-yes, the most powerful breed of nekomata, masters of Senjutsu and Yojutsu, caused a lot of trouble to humankind and ended up getting terminated..."

I make a pause as I look to Toujou-chan

"Except for two lucky kittens that were taken and hidden by the demons, the black and the white, Kuroka and Shirone"

Koneko has been listening to me with a awful expression on her face

"So you have heard about it..."

Rias says

"They are quite famous, in fact I've been searching for them and many other espers too"

"W-why? Koneko-chan did nothing wrong!"

Issei declares

"All the things that they say Koneko did were actually her sister's fault! Kuroka is the one at fault!"

I turn towards him

"I haven't heard about this, care to explain?"

Rias lifts her hand to Issei

"Please allow me"

She puts her teacup in the table

"Koneko is Shirone, the white nekomata, she and her sister Kuroka, the black nekomata, are the last of their kind as you said, they both went under the protection of a devil, Kuroka became his [Bishop] so that Koneko, who was too young at the time, could live with them, however, Kuroka murdered that devil and left Koneko behind, when I met Koneko, she was about to be punished for her sister's crimes, but thanks to the Maou being my brother, we were able to annulate her sentence if she became my servant and worked under my surveillance, that's how Shirone became Koneko, my [Rook]"

Ah shit, another depressing backstory, how am I supposed to answer to that?

Actually, the more I think about it, does everyone here has a depressing or traumatic experience before becoming a devil? Is that normal?

"I'm very sorry about it then, I had no idea"

I say looking at Koneko

"It's alright, Rias buchou takes good care of me"

Does she? Isn't there something wrong here? Do Liliana's servants have the same story as them?

"But it's okay now, right? You don't have nothing to hold against Koneko-chan, right?"

I shake my head in confusion

"What? Oh, I gave that impression? Sorry, I already had decided I wasn't going to harm Koneko, I'm thinking about something else"

Issei seems surprised at my answer

"Eh? What is it?"

I put a hand under my chin and answer

"The reward obviously"

I answer bluntly and Rias says in a worried voice

"Reward?"

Everyone in the room seems to have no idea about what I'm talking, is that really a surprise to them?

"Oh, sorry, you didn't knew about it? You are her master so I thought you all knew"

Rias shakes her head

"What are you talking about?"

"There is a reward for Koneko-chan?!"

Asia and Issei ask

I nod my head

"Sorry, but I'll explain it then, there is a bulky reward for each of the nekomata sisters, freelancer exorcists and espers hunt them for a long time because of such reward"

The eyes of everyone in the ORC wide and they answer in a fuss

"""Reward?!"""

"What do you mean, Kageyama-kun? How much is that reward?"

Rias asks me nervous

"5 million yen for each of them dead, 15 million for each of them alive, one of the best paying rewards in youkai hunting for a single youkai"

I answer them

"W-what?"

I hear Issei asking in disbelive

"So much money..."

Kiba says in an astonished tone

"Who set it up?"

Rias asks me, but I shake my head

"No one did and yet everyone did, it's the average value of the reward, you might even get more depending on the customer"

"Customer? What customer?"

Issei asks

"Depending on who hires you for the job or who you sell them to, it's like an endangered species black market, there is the normal value, but there are also many people willing to pay much more"

"What the fuck..."

He has wide eyes and a expression of complete disbelieve on his face

"So there are people like that..."

Rias says

I nod, they seem completely surprised at this fact, to me this is an everyday thing so I didn't know they would be so taken back by it

"There are collectors, scientists, paranormal investigators, people of all kind."

Rias sighs and puts her hand against her forehead

"And there is nothing we can do about it?"

I lay back on the couch

"I think you guys are already doing a pretty good job, I mean, if the bounty hunters don't know she's here, she'll probably be safe, specially with you guys around"

Issei clutches his hand

"No matter what, we'll protect Koneko-chan"

Oh no, he might have taken too seriously what I said

"Sorry, I think I made it look worse than it is, but most people even in the supernatural field believe they are already dead, there has been no news about them ever since they were taken by the devils, so I don't think it's a big problem. The real problem here is..."

I look at Rias who answers with a nod

"I see, you want to know what to do if you find Kuroka, correct?"

"Yes, she is an evil devil and youkai, if I find her, is it alright for me to kill her or take her to someone who will do whatever they want with her?"

Everyone puts an uneasy face, is it because I used the word kill?

"I would rather if you didn't, we-"

"It's okay"

Koneko interrupts Rias

"Uh?"

Rias turns to Koneko who has a sad expression, but keeps talking

"Buchou, Kageyama-kun, I know that nee-san did bad things and she must pay for them, I can't let my feelings get in the way"

"Koneko-chan..."

Heh, she looks really sad, in this situation I can only think of one thing to say

"Hey, Koneko"

She turns to face me

"I won't forgive your sister for what she did, nor do I have any plans of letting her escape or go easy on her if we meet, but..."

I scratch the back of my head

"I'm not a monster, you know? She's your relative, so you obviously must have feelings for her, so..."

I give a breath out and say

"...I'll try not to kill her if we meet and if I manage to capture her I'll deliver to you instead of a customer"

It's not much, but it's a reasonable goal

But when I look around, everyone seems dumbfounded

"What? Did I said something wrong? You guys must have prisons or something in the underworld, right?"

"Fufufufufu, that's not it Kageyama-kun, we are just really grateful"

"If you can say at least this much, then we can at least be a little more relieved"

Kiba says with a happier expression

"Yes, thanks, I don't think Kuroka is a bad devil... but thank you"

Issei says

"...Thank you, Kageyama-kun"

Koneko says with a happier expression

"No problem, I might have killed a lot of devils, youkais, evil spirits and so on, but I can hold back if I want to"

After what I said, Rias' face returns returns to her serious attitude

"I'm sorry to ask Kageyama-kun, but do you know exactly how much you killed?"

I wide my eyes and breath out at her question, of course they would ask me that eventually

"No, impossible, I never counted, if I were to estimate, probably a thousand or so if you just include the devils, youkais, monsters and fallens, but if you put the evil spirits too, then I'm sure it would go to a few thousands"

I'm used to fight against multiple beings at once, it is very rare to encounter an evil creature that fights by themselves, like the incident at the cave before I came to Kuoh town, especially with evil spirits that tend to work together

"A few... thousands?"

"Scary, not even high priests have such amazing numbers..."

I hear Irina and Xenovia saying

"Well, that might be a problem..."

Rias says pondering

"Why is that?"

"You see Kageyama-kun, we devils also have arrangements with the youkai and some of them are vital to keep the balance of certain regions, if you are on their bad side it might make your job harder"

I see, Liliana and Azazel did said something about Youkais helping in the balance of this world

"I understand, that can be a problem..."

"Can we do something about it, Azazel?"

Rias asks the fallen angel

"Well, I wouldn't rush things, Kageyama-kun is not an exorcist for profession, therefore we don't know if the youkais know who he is and even in the chance that they know who he is we could still talk with the youkais. After all there are also former exorcists and youkais hunters who became reincarnated devils."

So there are people like that among the humans who took the evil pieces? I would like to meet one of them

"Hmm, you mean that the youkais don't know his identity?"

"It's likely that they will know him by the family name, but I think it's unlikely that they'll know his face, isn't that why you wear that robe anyway?"

Oh my robe, the plague doctor suit I wear not only because it helps conceive my identity but also because it protects from the poison I fear so much

"Liliana said it was because you want to keep yourself anonymous right?"

Azazel says

So Liliana said only that? Thank you! Thank you very much Liliana!

"Y-yes, I kept my idendity hiden, going with my face clean could have generated a lot of attention, so I keep myself undercover"

"I see, an anonymous hero..."

"Wow, that's really coo!l"

"...A masked punisher"

"Really sounds like a hero"

They all say such nice things about my disguise! Uoooh, I'm feeling even more guilty for hiding something from you all right now... and for trying to kill you!

"Kageyama-kun, there is one more thing I want to know"

"What is it?"

"Just what is your relation with Liliana and the Caim family?"

I make a confused face, I don't know which kind of relation we have right now

"Master and disciple I guess? Partners maybe?"

Rias lifts an eyebrows at my answer

"Huh? Disciple? What do you mean?"

"Well, did Azazel told you how we healed Hyoudou-kun?"

"Yeah, he told us you transfered some of Liliana's demonic energy into me right? I'm really grateful for it" - Issei answers

"M-me too! My sacred gear can't heal someone's energy back so I'm really grateful for you saving Ise-san!"

Asia say's while holding Issei's arm

I nod

"Thank you, but the thing is... I didn't know I could do that, it was all Liliana's idea, I never did anything like that before"

Rias makes a surprised expression

"You mean she knew how to make use of your power in a way you didn't?"

"Exactly, she also said she could make me a lot stronger and show me even more ways to use my power"

"Without even knowing you? Isn't it suspicious?"

I nod, even before hearing Rias say it I already thought that everything about Liliana is suspicious, her origin, her interest in me, the fact that her whole peerage is composed of Espers, but I can't help but wanting to know more, if what she knows can lead to control my power better and master it then I'll follow her whenever it is.

"I know, but it can't be helped, if you met someone who knew a way to use your power even better than you wouldn't you follow that person?"

Rias makes a sarcastic smile while looking at Azazel

"That Liliana sure is a lot like you..."

"Tsk, shut up, you talk as if we're together only because of my knowledge on Sacred Gears"

"And it isn't?"

Rias says as she calmly sips her tea

"Uaaah! That hurts you know!"

The fallen angel answers

"There, there, we like you so calm down" - Issei says while pating the fallen angel on the back

So that's why they are together? I've been wondering why these devils had a fallen angel with them...

"I actually got surprised when you told me you were the leader of an institute"

"Eh? Why?"

"You don't strike me as the responsible type"

"...It's because he isn't"

The loli nekomata bluntly says

"I'm not irresponsible! I am the leader of the fallen angels! The Great Governor that appears on the bible! Show some respect!"

I don't understand what Azazel said

"Wait, wait, are you the real angel Azazel from the bible? The one who came down to earth and had children with human women? You are the original? Not a descendant or something?"

I thought he was a descendant, like the guys from Hero Faction, or just someone who borrowed the name, are you telling me he is the real Azazel?!

"Yes, he is the pervert fallen angel who fell because of his lust"

It's Akeno who answers my question this time

"That's right! It's me! The Fallen Angel Governor of the bible"

Azazel answers proudly with a smirk on his face

...

I cover my face with my hand

"Why, WHY?!"

"H-Hey, why are you mourning?!"

Azazel asks

What do you mean, isn't it obvious?!

"Of course I'm mourning! To think that the leader of the fallen angels would be a pervert and cheerful guy like you, I'm completely disapointed!"

I can't hold it back, Azazel should be a dark, evil and mysterious existence, there's no way I can accept this guy as their original governor! Imagine if the espers who believe in the bible knew about this, they would kill him for sure!

"Azazel is a lecherous, irresponsible governor, but he's a good guy, we trust him"

Rias answers calmly

"I don't know whether to feel flatered or mad at your answer..."

Azazel answers troubled

I decide to change the subject

"Hey, Hyoudou-kun, Azazel told me you have the real Sekiryuutei inside of you, right? Can he speak to me again?"

"Ah, you are talking about Ddraig? Hey partner, can you speak with him?"

After a brief silence, Issei's gauntlet appears and the voice answers

[Very well, if I really must...]

He spoke in an annoyed tone, well, I can understand if he doesn't like me

"Ah, the legendary red dragon emperor! It's a real pleasure to meet you!"

I say speaking to the gauntlet

"H-hey Kageyama-kun, you don't have to talk directly to it, you know? Ddraig can hear and see everything I do, so it's not a problem if you talk to me"

That makes sense, I stand up and talk normally to Hyoudou

"There is something I want to know then... where is Albion?"

Ever since I've heard about the Seikiryuutei being sealed in a Sacred Gear, I've been wondering what happened to the Hakuryuukou, since they were supposedly killed together"

I ask and see Hyoudou face's getting troubled

"Eh... that's a complicated question..."

[Frankly, this boys always aims at the sore spots]

"Eh? Was it that troublesome?"

I ask looking sideways, everyone seems uncertain of what to say

"Issei and Ddraig's rival is working for the Khaos Brigade"

"What?! Albion is with the terrorists?"

Azazel shakes his head and answers in a sad tone

"Albion was also sealed in a Sacred Gear, [Divine Dividing], instead of increasing the owner's powers, this one is able to reduce the opponent's power and halve their attacks"

"I know about that, it's called [Divide] an opposite to the Welsh Dragon's [Boost], so he was also sealed and the host is now working against us, huh? That is a big problem"

Someone with the power of the White Dragon Emperor working with the enemy sure can mean a lot of trouble to us

He puts a hand against his forehead

"Well, the greatest problem isn't the Sacred Gear itself, but the wielder of it"

"Huh? What's up with the wielder? Is he a particularly bad person?"

"No, he is the descendant of the original Maou, his name is Vali Lucifer"

The descendant of the original Lord of Devils?

"W-what? There is someone like that?! Why the fuck you didn't told me that before?"

This is a huge deal! The boy has the original Lucifer blood and one of the most powerful beasts in history residing within him!

"I am sorry, I should have said it..."

Azazel says with a sorrowful expression

"Vali Lucifer was trained under Azazel's tutorship, however, he turned against us and now works for the Khaos Brigade, he is also the leader of the group Koneko's sister is in"

Rias says this, I look at Koneko who has a bitter expression and then to Azazel

"So he has human blood?"

I remember Azazel told me only those who are at least part human can wield a Sacred Gear, that must mean the old Maou had a child with a human?

Azazel nods

"You can only wield a Sacred Gear if you have human blood, Vali was the son of Lucifer's grandkid with a human, I took him in when he was a child and taught him to use his sacred gear, but in the end... I couldn't stop him from turning against us"

I stay silent while considering his words, this only makes me see him as even more irresponsible in my eyes

"Why did he turned against you?"

Azazel shrugs

"He is a battle maniac and the peace we are trying to build is a threat to him, so he decided he didn't want that"

I squint my eyes and look at him with a questioning expression

"That's it, that's just it? You are telling me you took a kid who had hatred in his heart, taught how to use his immense power, but somehow was not able to teach him loyaty or kindness enough to make him not want to drow the world in war?"

This man is seriously not the type that I think should be leading the fallen angels, I don't think he should be running anything!

Azazel shrugs

"Yes, you can hate me if you want, it was my fault"

"Is that really all you got to say?"

Does the underworld puts people like him to rule over? If he is like that then what kind of man rules the devils? What kind of Maous are Rias' and Sona's brothers like?

"H-hey Kageyama-kun, don't go so hard on Azazel, he is not all at the fault"

I nod my head

"I know, he wouldn't have turned evil if he wasn't planning on it. This Vali Lucifer is an evil devil along with Kuroka, correct?"

The look on Issei's face becomes as if I backed him against a wall

"Yes, he is..."

Issei seems sad when he says that

"Why are you sad? Don't tell me you were friends?"

Issei shakes his head and when it seems like he is about to answer, Ddraig says

[He knows what you want to do, esper]

"Huh? What I want?"

I wasn't particularly meaning anything with this but Ddraig answers in a serious tone

[Me and Albion are rivals for eternity, sealing us doesn't change this fact, my partner is Albion's and Vali Lucifer's rival, he is the one destined to fight and defeat him, you should stay out of this rivalry]

I was taken by surprise by the Sekiryuutei's words, so their rivalry extends even after death?

"Ddraig is right, Vali is my rival, the man who I am destined to fight and defeat and also he is more than that, we fought together once you know?"

"You did?"

"I mentioned the incident with the Khaos Brigade that happened some time ago, remember? In that fight, Vali and his team, who also has the descendants of Sun Wukong, Arthur Pendragon and Morgana Le Fay, aided us in battle"

A team composed of such individuals is nothing short of amazing!

"Wow! Impressive, well, he is the son of Lucifer, and what about your enemy? Who was it that could make even the terrorists accept this truce?"

"The evil norse god, Loki, decided to rebel against his father, Odin. Since Odin is on the Alliance's side we had no choice but to stop Loki's plans and seal him in Cocytus, where he won't scape"

Loki? So they defeated and sealed the son of Odin, Loki? Amazing!

"Hah, another ridiculous foe, well, but now I can understand it too, you also have some sympathy since you fought by his side, do I shouldn't fight with him too, huh? Ah , frankly, you guys are restraining me a lot you know?"

Issei puts a troubled expression

"I am sorry"

Well, there is a lot to this world I still don't know, I don't know their past experiences nor what leads them to think like this, I think I should stay away from those people, otherwise another misunderstanding might happen...

"Hahaha! Don't worry, the one who should be worrying now is me, this Khaos Brigade seems to be full of incredibly strong guys, I wonder how fighting with them will be like"

I don't know if it's a shock to anyone, but I am not invincible, you know?

"Your level of strength is quite high already, I don't think there are many people able to defeat you"

I smile at Hyoudou's answer

"Mom and dad could probably do it if they fought seriously, Kuriko too, but Hyoudou-kun, if I told you that there are is a man in this world that can single handedly defeat me, would you believe it?"

"That man would have to be quite the monster..." - Yuuto-kun answers our conversation

No, you are wrong Yuuto-kun, that man is no monster, he is human, but his strength is something above all existences I've ever met. To reach his level with my psychic powers is the greatest aim I can have.

"He is someone who stands above the concept of strength, I can't see myself reaching his level yet... but Yuuto-kun, you have something very unusual yourself right?"

He makes a confused face

"Sorry, what do you mean by it?"

"That sword of yours, it combined both demonic power and holy aura, it is the first time I saw such a thing, it's quite impressive."

"Oh, thank you very much. That is my sacred gear [Sword Birth], it allows me to create several types of swords with different attributes"

"So it's another Sacred Gear, man this things are really impressive, I'm starting to wish I had one, hahaha!"

"Please don't say that, you are already scary enough with psychic powers alone!"

"Hahahaha, sorry"

"By the way Kageyama-kun, since we are talking about our powers, could you explain me a bit more about what you can do?"

"About what I can do?"

Rias nods

"Yes, you were the first person we met who could use psychic powers. I believe I'm not the only one curious about it"

I see, so they want to know what my powers are

"Well, as you saw in battle, my specialities are telekinesis and energy manipulation. I can also use other psychic powers, but these are the ones I'm the best at"

I say as I lift a single paper and a pen from the table

"Would you mind if I use them to demonstrate?"

"Not at all" - Rias answers

"Okay then"

"With telekinesis I can not only diasemble and reconstruct mater at molecular level, but also make it fuse if I want to"

I make the ink from inside the pen float outside of it and then fuse with the paper, I write "Kuoh Academy" on it

"Woah, that's amazing"

"Thanks and another thing is that I can reconstruct matter the way I seem fit, so I can also do this if I want to"

I make the paper split itself into equal bits and then reassemble it

"I can reassemble things in the way I seem fit, not only to the state they once were"

"Wow, so that's how you were able to regenerate yourself so easily"

Asia says

"And build that rock barrier around the factory!"

Xenovia says hitting her fist against her palm

"Yeah, but this is not a healing power, so it has it's weakness"

"Not a healing power..."

I hear Asia saying

"Yes, when I regenerated your body Asia, Azazel told me the things that were wrong with you so I knew where I had to reconstruct. My power doesn't allow me to randomly heal someone because if I mess with something that doesn't need to be fixed I could make the situation much worse"

"I see, but it's still an amazing power!"

She says cheerfully, I can't help but smile at her cute encouragement

"You also said you can manipulate energy right? Is that what you did with Asia during our battle?" - Issei asks

During our battles, I used my power to absorb Asia's healing aura to stop her from healing them

"Yes, I can manipulate other people's aura and energy and use it to boost my powers if I have to, the scientific name is [Ergokinesis]"

"That's amazing, that means you can steal anyone's energy?"

I nod

"Yes, once we absorb an energy we can turn any kind into our own"

"So there are more like you? Others who can manipulate energy?"

Rias asks

"Yes, many espers have the power to manipulate energy to a certain level, however, there are very few who can manipulate it and absorb like me and father."

"So even among espers you are a rarity, huh?"

"I guess you could say that..."

"Is that why Liliana-san is so interested on you?"

I don't know how to answer, Liliana is still a mystery to me

"I'm sorry, Sona-kaichou already asked me that, but her motivation is unknown to me, it was hard for me as well to understand Liliana-san's motivation, but all I know is that she's very brave..."

And very powerful, it was just for a few seconds, but Liliana's energy felt different from the demons I've met, including Rias and the others, there was something about her that threw me off.

Rias seem confused at my answer

"Brave and powerful? How is that so?

"Well, brave because she has espers on her side, that much is obvious"

"Are you saying that because espers have exorcist powers?"

Issei asks

I shake my head

"No, well there is that as well, but it's because espers are natural hunters of the supernatural"

They look at me confused

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we understand"

Akeno-san says with a confused look at her face

"What do you mean? You guys understand that for sure, we just talked how about I noticed right away you guys were devils, how you couldn't detect me even with the nekoshou's senjutsu and it seems like Liliana-san told you about our exorcism powers, I think it's only natural that a devil would try to keep us at least a few steps away from them, but she actually took them in as her servants..."

My father received the nickname "White T Poison" because, just like poison, he seemed completely harmless until he fucked you up.

Rias' eyes widen at my explanation

"I see, that makes sense..."

I nod, it's as if nature itself molded us to fight the supernatural, yet we attract them, weird isn't it?

Thinking about that, it's almost like Jojo, right? Stand users attract each other, but most times they end up figthing

Wait, am I really thinking about Jojo in this situation?

I shake the thought out of my head and continue

"And that's why I know she's brave, Liliana, with that smile and carefree attitude, is surrounded by us out of her own choice, not only that but she also made us her servants. That means something."

Rias nods at my answer

"Do you think there's a reason behind it?"

I shrug

"I dunno, I thought you could give me a better answer"

"Sorry, but among the devils very little is know about her motivation, the Caims are one of the most mysterious clans of the 72 pillars"

72 pillars, Sona-kaichou also said something about it

"What are these 72 pillars about?"

"Oh, Azazel didn't told you? These are the 72 main devil clans that compose the devil's side of the underworld government, after the great war most of them went extinct but the Caim faction"

"Are you part of the 72 pillars?"

She nods

"My family, the Gremory house, occupies the rank of Duke, my brother Sirzechs is it's current leader. The Caims have the rank of Great President, they are above most clans, but still below the Great King Bael "

Oh, so Liliana's family is ranked very highly among the devil's! This actually makes me nervous

I also remember what Azazel said and I gulp before asking

"Your brother, you mean... the Maou right?"

Rias seems suprised at my answer

"So Liliana-san told you..."

"We both did, we thought it would be good to let him know with what he was dealing with"

Azazel says

She looks at Azazel and nods

"That would be right then, my brother currently occupies the position of the devil's highest leadership"

So it's true, crap, I'm really glad I didn't killed any of them!

"Are they okay with me joining in?"

Rias nods

"We didn't get to tell my brother anything, Azazel alerted us to not do so as you would be coming to our side"

"ah, thanks, that's good"

I say while finally relaxing, that means I'm not on the devil's blacklist

"Eh... Buchou"

Issei says and everyone turns to hear what he has to say

"What is it, Ise?"

He says while scratching his cheek

"Kageyama-kun is serving under Liliana-san but he's not a devil, isn't he? But he's still at Kuoh academy. So that means he'll be able to work with us like Irina does? Or is that prohibited somehow?"

Rias thinks for a while before answering

"That depends on which kind of order we receive, but if he's staying in this school that means he'll probably have no choice..."

No choice? What does she mean by that?

"Well, Liliana-san didn't said I couldn't help you guys if needed, but why do you think I won't have a choice?"

Rias gives a big sigh at my question

"The town of Kuoh has been the center of many recent activities regarding the three powers, which has also led it to receive a lot of attention from groups with evil intentions such as the Khaos Brigade, that's why I wish we can count with your help if danger arrives, but I also believe that even if you didn't want to, you would end up pulled into it, I'm sorry."

I shake my head

"Not at all, anything I can do to help will be my pleasure, you can all count on me. If you want you can think of it as a repayment for... you know what..."

Rias shakes her head

"Don't worry, by the way, Azazel also told us something about Espers attracting supernatural beings? Is that true?"

Oh, yes, I didn't told them that

"Yes, we do, it's a weird thing, but stronger the esper, the more chances he has of having encounters with the supernatural, I'm really sorry if this causes you trouble, I'll try to deal with any beings that I do attract"

That's the best I can do, it's not like this is something that can be turned on and off, but I have to at least that responsibility for it

But Rias shakes her head

"Not a problem, actually this town was blessed by the three factions you know? Angels, devils and fallen angels built a barrier around this town so any unauthorized supernatural beings would be either stopped from entering or alert us if they did"

So they have this kind of technique in this town, that explains even more the supernatural air that envolves it

"...But it seems like your presence and the interference of your Ki managed to lower our defences and mess with the flow of the town, which made it easier for them to enter"

Oh crap, that's right, I did use my powers to interfere with them, so that's why it wasn't working...

"I'm sorry, I won't try to mess with the town's chi anymore, so I think it will be alright. Ah frankly, I've caused you guys so much trouble since I arrived..."

Even if my intentions were good, it doesn't eliminate this fact

"Don't worry about it! We're all fine and it served to all of us as a lesson"

Hyoudou says with confidence, I look at him confused

"Lesson?"

He nods

"Yes, we at the Gremory group are training to become stronger, getting defeated by you only motivated us to get stronger. Next time we won't lose to you Kageyama-kun!"

"...Ahahahahaha!"

I can't help but laugh at his answer, this is probably the most amazing thing this Gremory group has show me, never in my life someone said these words to me, never in my life I felt like I was competing with someone. To become stronger is an aim I had in order to control my powers and destroy evil, never something I did out of necessity, the words of Hyoudou-kun make me see them in a new way

"Why are you laughing?"

I wave my hand in front of my face

"Nothing, nothing, I just never had rivals before, you know? We espers don't usually fight against each other these days, so I never had any motivation or need to train or strive to become stronger"

Issei's face freezes for a moment

"Training? Kageyama-kun, are you saying you never trained in your life?"

I nod with a confused face

"Yes, is there a problem?"

His eyes wide and he seems completely shocked

"Y-you mean, all that power of yours is controled solely with your natural talent?"

Kiba asks

"Yeah, why are you guys giving me this look? Is that so strange?"

"You have been relying on fighting experience and talent alone?!"

I hear Xenovia asking

"Yes, but it's not just me, mother and father are like that as well, plus Kuri-"

"We lost to a guy who never trained a day in his life..."

She is sulking! She's not even listening to me!

"Don't worry Xenovia-san, Kageyama-kun is a frightening existence"

Asia pats her back, hey, don't comfort her while degrading me!

"But it's okay, right, everyone?"

Rias looks at her peerage with a confident expression

"We have already faced things like this before, we won't give up so easily, right?"

Issei gives a sigh and smiles

"Yeah, Buchou is, we'll train even harder from now on"

Hearing it, Yuuto makes a troubled smile and speaks up

"Frankly, even after you guys just fought you are already challenging him again, but Ise-kun is right, next time we won't lose, isn't that right everyone?"

[Yes!]

The occult research club backs up Hyoudou's words with the same amount of confidence as his friend. These people sure are something.

"Well if we're rivals now then I better get going before you decide to jump at me for revenge hahaha!"

I say as I turn to leave

"Goodbye Kageyama-kun"

Oh, there's one more thing

"Hey, everyone"

They throw curious glances at me

"Just call me Tatseyo, can I call you by your first names as well?"

They all nod

"Fine by us, see you later then, Tatseyo"

Rias says

"Okay, see you later, Rias, Issei, everyone."

That was a really interesting conversation, they are good people, I feel bad for what I did to them but I'll try my best to make it up for it.

But even so, there are things that doesn't seem right to me, this evil piece system, the leaders of the underworld and now these 'frenemies' that they have with the Khaos Brigade. Also, the conditions from which Shinra was reincarnated seem to be very different from the members of the Gremory peerage, well, I can't bring this up in front of them, but this is something that I should talk about with Liliana

* * *

Afterword: I am very happy to see so many new comments, favorites and critics in my story, I love when people compliment it, but I also enjoy when they say their opinions about it. This not only helps improve my writing, it also gives me ideas.

A fun thing that happened in the last chapter was that both in fanfiction .net and Wattpad, there were reviews talking about how what Mayumi said was incorrect and made Rias seem much nicer than she is, considering she manipulated Issei and Asia into her peerage and considering the bad side of the devil society and the evil pieces. It was actually very funny since it happened in the exact chapter I said the story was in the two plataforms. I would like to say that I'm aware of this side of the story, I also know the flaws in the Devil society, like crazy leaders and the flaws of the evil piece system, and I have no plans of turning devils into flawless beings just because I made the protagonist become more sympathetic towards them.

Mayumi couldn't know everything behind Issei and Asia's situation, she's a telepath, not omniscient, she's not close to Rias and no one in canon seems to know the exact conditions of Asia and Issei outside of their peerage, but I sure will try to address the conditions behind the reicarnations of some devils, along with a couple of things that also aren't discussed in canon. But I'll do it slowly, Tatseyo is still discovering this new world and is currently fascinated by it, but soon he'll find out he wasn't all wrong about the evil side of the underworld beings.


	25. First visit

**Part 1**

A few days have passed since I had my conversation with Rias and Sona-kaichou, not much has happened ever since, I don't hang around with them very much and I prefer to stay with the trio of friends that I met on my second day here.

"Hey Tatseyo, what are you thinking?"

Kanae, the girl of the group, asks while poking me in the cheek

"Ah, nothing, I was just spacing out"

I answer while continuing to dig on my lunch

But truth is that I'm feeling uneasy, my first days in this town were everything but peaceful, but these last 2 days have passed with nothing happening at all. In my "normal life" as an esper, I had battles on nearly daily basis and by what Rias said I thought it would be the same here too, so this peaceful time is making me feel aprehensive that something might happen at anytime if I drop my guard.

Me and the trio went to the mall yesterday, they helped me around the town quite a bit and I got to know them better, but nothing out of the usual happened, I guess I should be glad I got to spend some time with friends and have some peace for the first time in years, but I can't shake this feeling of uneasiness out of my mind.

"Pay attention dude, here, where do you think we should visit first?"

Koji hands me a map of Kyoto, they've been talking about this trip even though it's still not that close

"I dunno, wouldn't we have to follow the teacher's schedule?"

I called my parents and they gave me permission, so all that's left is going, though I would like to talk to Liliana before, I don't have contact with her or her peerage since the time at the ORC.

"We'll also have time to freely wander around there, so we have to make the most out of it"

Eizo says this.

I shrug

"That's good, I'll go wherever you guys go, so you can decide by yourselves"

"Alright!"

He starts writing something on a block of paper as I look at my watch and see that break time is about to end

"I'll go in the front then"

I say as I get up from my seat

"Just wait a second... done!"

He says closing the block

"Let's go together"

The four of us make our way back to classroom

When we get close to class we see that the door is being blocked by a group of girls surrounding a familar figure... it's Kiba Yuuto

By now I've already got used to his abnormal popularity with the female students, though this can be a hassle sometimes

"Hey, could you move plea..."

"Kyahh, I'm sorry! I didn't saw you!"

The girl immediately panicks at the sound of my voice and steps away while apologising, the other girls do the same, it's like I've pointed a gun at them.

Yes, people still think I'm a deliquent, I believe that regarding popularity I'm just above Issei and the perverted trio. Well, I guess being feared is better than being gross.

The only one who doesn't move is Kiba who looks at us with a refreshing smile

"Hi Tatseyo"

I wave at him

"Hey Kiba, how's it going?"

(Ehhh, they know each other?)

(Kiba-kun, move! He will ruin your pretty face if he takes you wrong!)

I can hear the girls who didn't run away whispering, another thing I've grown used to by now. But I already know how to deal with it

"Class is about to start you know? Shouldn't you be going?"

...Just pull a Jotaro on them

"Iiih! Sorry"

They disband at a rush, some go in our class while others go back to other classrooms

"Oh my, seems you really have things under control here"

Kiba says while laughing. Please don't do that, it's not like I'm enjoying it, but it's the only way to make them shut up.

"Sorry about that, so what are you doing in here?"

"Nothing much, I only came to see how the members of the club were doing, the school will be having a trip to Kyoto in a few weeks. Have you decided on your group yet?"

"Yes, I'll be going with them"

I say pointing at my friends who are behind me

"Hi Kanae-chan, Eizo-san, Koji-san, how are you?"

"H-hi.. Y-yuuto-kun.."

Kanae answers while blushing, even though she said she doesn't adore the popular crew as much as the others, it's clearly obvious she has some feelings for him. She's usualy responsible and like the big sister of our group, but close to Kiba we can see that she's a normal girl just like all the others

"Tsk"

Eizo doesn't say a word and simply walks by Kiba and goes inside the classroom, he's among the several male students who dislike Kiba for his popularity, he's really impulsive and energic, but he's a good guy.

"Sorry about this, Yuuto-kun"

Koji apologizes because of our friend's behaviour and follows after him inside the classroom, he is probably the most level headed and easy going of us, I've never seen him speak bad about anyone... except about Issei and his two friends of course.

"Well, class is about to start, see you later"

"Later then"

He waves me goodbye and walks towards his classroom

"So... are you going to stand there all day?"

I say it to Kanae, since Kiba spoke with her she's just standing there

"Ah, right, sorry!"

She says this as she rushes inside our class.

I close the door and walk to my seat, soon after that the teacher comes in and class starts

Class goes by like usual and to me this feeling is kinda foreign, normal days like these are a rarity to me

When it finally ends I start packing my materials and get ready to go home

"Hey Tatseyo, wanna walk home together?"

Koji calls me

"Yes, just wait a second"

I walk towards Issei, Asia, Xenovia and Irina who are getting ready to leave the classroom

"Hey"

"Oh, hi Tatseyo"

They greet me

"I was just wondering... has anything weird happened recently, like in the last two days?"

Everyone in the group makes a confused expression

"No... why?"- Issei asks

"Did you saw something weird?"

Asia says with concern in her eyes

I shake my head

"No, sorry if I'm worrying you, it's just that the last few days have been so... quiet, when Rias told me about this town I thought things would be more... agitated in here"

Xenovia sighs

"So you are feeling like that as well? I admit that all this calm is starting to make me feel bored, would you like to train with me later?"

I shake my head

"No, no, I think I said it in the wrong way, I thought Rias-senpai told me this town was the at the center of those evil organization's attention, so all this peace is making me feel uneasy, like something is about to happen. Calm before the storm you know?"

Issei laughs

"Sorry Tatseyo, but I think you took Buchou's words too seriously, we do suffer a lot of attacks, but we have peace periods as well, relax and enjoy it while it lasts, you'll go mad if you can't you know?"

I breath in relieve

"So that's it, huh? Sorry if I was being paranoid"

Irina smiles while taping my shoulder

"Don't worry, if anything happens we'll give you a call, right?"

"Yes, definitely"

"Enjoy yourself Tatseyo-san I would hate see you getting mad"

Asia says this, I can see why she's popular, this girl's cuteness goes off the charts sometimes

"Yeah, we wouldn't let Kuoh academy's strongest fighter out of the action..."

Xenovia says this, I can't help but feel a little resentment in her words

"C'mon Xenovia, don't put so much presure on him"

She sighs

"But it's true isn't it? Tatseyo, even if you are not fighting you should be aiming to become more powerful, we on the Gremory group are training daily to become stronger so we can surpass people at your level, I hope you are not slacking off, I don't wanna win just because my opponent wasn't prepared to fight."

Damn, this girl sure took her promise to get stronger seriously

"I can see where you're coming from, but still..."

I don't know how I should train, during my whole life I never had to train to get stronger, my power is constantly increasing as I get more used to it and all I ever did was about using all the skills I have with focus on controlling them

"Eh, don't tell me you still haven't trained at all?"

I reply while scratching my cheek, I never actually trained in my entire life you know? It's not so easy to start now

"S-sorry..."

Xenovia makes an angry click with her tongue

"Frankly, people with talent always tend to slack off so easily..."

Issei speaks after Xenovia

"Haven't Liliana-san told you she would make you become stronger?"

I nod

"Yes, but we don't have any contact since the after fight at the Occult club, she gave me her number but I don't know how I should contact her..."

"Uh, isn't it easy? Just call her and say you want her help"

Asia speaks with a confused expression

"It's probably more than this Asia, maybe Tatseyo has fallen for her"

Irina says this, you're completely wrong!

"Calm down Irina, they just met each other, that can't be the case... can it?"

Even you Issei?!

"No! That's not the case!"

I answer, then I give a long sigh

"Sorry, Asia is probably right... I'll talk to Liliana-san today, thanks guys"

Xenovia now has a smile on her face

"That's the spirit! I'm looking forward to fighting against you again!"

It seems like her mood improved quite a lot, maybe she's one of those people addicted to fighting? Can't say I have the same feeling

"Thanks everyone! Say hello to Rias-senpai and the others for me okay?"

"Alright, see you later"

"Goodbye Tatseyo-san, don't push yourself too hard!"

"Bye Tatseyo~"

"Make sure to get even stronger!"

With these words I leave classroom and join with my friends who were waiting for me outside

"Finally, what took you so long?"

"Sorry, I had some things to discuss with the Occult research club, thanks for waiting"

 **Part 2**

We're walking together back home, mostly talking about the school trip, they really are excited about it, even Kanae can't hide her excitement.

"Hey Tatseyo, you are spending some time with the Occult research club, are you planning to join them?"

Kanae asks me as we are in midway

"No, just some friendly chat, I don't even know if I wanna join a club"

Most students at our school are involved with one club or another, even this trio of friends is, it got me thinking that maybe I should join one as well, but I don't think I would have time for it

"That's bad Tatseyo! As a student, it's your duty to be involved in the extra-curricular activities of your school too!"

Kanae says in a scolding tone

"Eh? Is it that important to join a club?"

I was never at a normal school before, so I didn't know about it, aren't things like that optional?

"Of course it is! If you are not on a club you are not enjoying your school life to the fullest and when you notice, puff! It's over!"

"W-what? Really?"

Is it that serious?!

"Hey, Kanae, stop doing that, you know Tatseyo never went to a normal school"

Eizo interrupts her

"He's right, Tatseyo, Kanae is just trying to recruit you to the Morals Comittee, don't fall for it"

Kanae is a member of Kuoh Academy's Public Morals Comittee, an organization separate from the student council that enforces the rules of the school and punishes misbehaviour

"Mou, you guys could at least help me a little!"

She says to them

"No way, nobody likes the morals comittee"

"Yeah, especially the guys, we would be hated if we joined you"

Both boys speak to her

As they said, the morals comittee is not elected like the student council, they are usually recommended by the teachers or by other members of the club, you gotta have an at least decent record and behaviour to join though, but that means they weren't choosen by the students and because of the fact that their job is to literally enforce the rules, many dislike them.

"Why do you want me to join the comittee, Kanae?"

Last time I heard, they weren't in such a bad shape, it bugs me why Kanae would want me to join them, especially because of my fame as a deliquent

Kanae lowers her head and answers in a sad voice

"The Morals Comittee is low on staff and in the next graduation it will become even lower, as we currently are, our morale is so low we can't even stop the pervert trio..."

The Public Morals Comittee has been very busy since the school became co-ed, mostly for the exact reason that you might be thinking, enforcing rules and morality on teenage girls was already hard, enforcing it on teenage boys in an academy full of girls is even harder. And it's also true that they are short handed, so dealing with everything is a very tough job

Then her sad expression disappears and she gives a confident smirk

"But imagine if we could bring you, who has the fame of Kuoh Academy's deliquent, to our side? The morale would skyrocket! Not to mention it would also make the students afraid of breaking the rules! It would be the perfect combination!"

I jump back on surprise, so that's her reason?! To make the students scared?

She doesn't stop and starts laughing

"Kukuku, I can even see it already, posters with Tatseyo's face all over the school writen 'The Morals Comittee is watching you', it would be awesome! I bet even the pervert trio would think ten times before trying something!"

"Hey! Don't decide shit like that on your own! Do you think this 1984? I'm not your Big Brother!"

I declare angrily to Kanae who immeaditely starts pleading

"C'mon, would you at least give it some thought? You already said you don't have a club in mind and we really need help, so please?"

She asks puttin her hands together as if she's begging, man, I really don't like this, if I join the Morals Comittee I would have to work even more and people still wouldn't like me...

But hey, at least they wouldn't think of me as a deliquent, right? And I feel like I own them something since they are the first people in this school who became my friends

"Okay, I'll give it some thought, but I'm not promising anything, alright?"

Kanae gives a big smile and says it with a victory pose

"Yes! Chalk one up for morality!"

"He-hey! I told you I'm not promising anything!"

But she's not even listening to me and just keeps humming on the way back

"Tatseyo, you are too soft..."

"Yeah, your mean looks don't do you justice"

"Shut up you two, or I'm gonna show you what's scary"

With that the conversation is resumed and we make our way home

 **Part 3**

When I arrive at home, I shower and eat the sandwich I bought at a store.

Now I'm staring at my cellphone screen at the contact named "Liliana"

I really don't know how should I talk to her, but I don't wanna break my promise, I also do want to know more about my powers, if there are things that not even mom and dad could teach me, then I really have to know.

I take a deep breath and press the 'dial' button

It only rings once before an unknown female voice picks it up.

"Dark Devil Casino, how may I help you?"

Eh, casino? What?

I look at the cellphone screen and at the leaflet that Mayumi gave me, they definitely match, but this can't be

No wait... Dark Devil?

Could it be?

"Er... Can I speak with Liliana Caim?"

The voice waits for a moment before asking

"Who is it?"

"Tatseyo Kageyama, tell her I..."

The call goes mute for a moment before I hear someone picking it up

"Hi Tatseyo! How are you doing?'

Liliana's voice! And she seems happy

"H-hello Liliana-san, about that offer of working with you I've been thinking about it and I really wanted to start it a soon as possible, I know I just called out of the blue but... I'll take anything you have so please show me how to use my powers better!"

A silence follows after my words

"Hahahaha!"

Her laughing takes me by surprise

"Why are you acting like that? We already agreed on working together right? I was just worried about why you took so long to contact us, but since you've contacted us now it must mean we can start to work right? Can you come over right now?"

Woah, right now? I was thinking that that maybe she would want to start tomorrow... no no, she's right, the sooner we start, the better

"Yes, I can, how do I get to where you are?"

"The same way as before, take the leaflet that Mayumi gave to you"

I take the paper from the table, it has a pentagram that I've never saw before, similar to the Gremory's, I believe it's her family's symbol

"Hey Tatseyo..."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Why did you took so long to contact us? I was worried you know? I thought you had given up on working with us..."

I can hear legitimate sadness in her voice, I already regret not calling sooner and hearing her like this is making me feel even more guilty!

"Sorry, I was busy with school and getting used to this new town, also I sort of... didn't know how I should talk to you"

She gently giggles

"Fufufu, so you were embarassed? That's so cute! But we already know each other, so there's no problem, contact me when you like, okay?"

"O-okay..."

I say while feeling a little embarassed, Liliana sure is very easygoing

"Now get ready, I'm gonna activate the circle right... now!"

The circle on the leaflet suddenly starts glowing and...

And...

Uh? Nothing?

"Eh? What happened?"

I hear her voice on the other side of the line

"The circle didn't activate, is something wrong?"

I ask her

"I-I don't know..."

Her voice is shaken, like she really wasn't expecting it

"Hey Tatseyo, is there something in your house stopping demonic power from working?"

Something like that... oh fuck!

"Damnit, there is!"

When I arrived at this house I used various seals to stop demons from entering my house when I wasn't here, so of course it's going to stop their teleportation from working

"Wait a minute"

I walk outside of my house with the leaflet and cellphone in hand, I look around to see if there is anyone near and once confirmed I ask

"Liliana, would you mind trying again?"

"Huh? Okay"

This time the light shines but doesn't fade away, instead, it gets stronger, enveloping me

When the light from the magic dies out I notice my surroundings

It's a really big and luxurious room, there are pillars who seem to be made of marble, the decoration is fancy, there is a big chandelier on the roof and a carpet that covers almost all of the floor. There seems to be a mini bar and a pool table as well and right behind me there's a big double-door made of wood with some nice details encarved onto it.

"Tatseyo!"

On the other end of the room, there's a a big table full of papers and lots of other office suplies on it, sitting behind it is Liliana who promptly stands up to greet me

"Wow!"

It leaves my mouth as soon as she gets close, Liliana is stunning! She's wearing a short white dress that exposes her legs, arms and shoulders. Her brown skin and silver hair give her an exotic nature that is just a knockout!

Mayumi is wearing secretary clothes, even if she's not showing as much as Liliana, she looks beautiful as well, when we met she had her hair loose but now she has it wrapped on a ponytail, she looks really mature and beautiful as well!

"What happened?"

Liliana asks me with a worried expression

"Fufufu, I believe Tatseyo thinks our outfits are too provocative, Liliana-sama"

"Really? You don't like it?"

I shake my head profusely

"Not at all! It really looks great on you! On both of you!"

Liliana smiles hearing my answer

"Fufufu, thank you"

I breath out in relieve

"And don't read my mind like that, Mayumi!"

Mayumi gives a playful smile

"I wasn't reading your mind, it was written all over your face, fufufu"

Really, was it that obvious?

"Yes, it was"

Uwahh! Stop reading my mind!

"Stop with it already!"

"Sorry, it's just so much fun to tease you! Huhuhu!"

Liliana turns around looking at Mayumi

"Frankly, teasing our guest even though he took so long to contact us, what we gonna do if he doesn't want to come back anymore?"

"I would never do that!"

There's no way I'll break my promisse and go back on my word to Liliana over something like this!

Liliana and Mayumi turn to me surprised

"I was just kidding, I trust you"

She says with a gentle smile on her face reaching her hand to me

"Come here"

She takes my hand and guides me through the spacious room to the big desk she was occupying

Then she takes several papers and shows then to me

"You know what this is?"

There are numbers and many words on it, but it's all written in different languages, so there are many things I can't understand. Whoever I can understand that some places are addresses and I can recognize some names on it

"New York, Manhattan, Park Avenue, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas, Palermo, Naples, Veneza, London, Dublin, Pequim, Moscow, Taipé, Macau..."

I say outloud the list of the names I recognize, it's written in a foreign language, but even so I can understand it, they are famous towns after all.

Liliana looks pleased

"So you can read it! That will help a lot"

"Thanks, but there are many names here that I don't know, what exactly are they and the numbers on it?"

She picks the several papers and organizes them before putting them in a folder.

"These are lists of my family's business in the human world Tatseyo, with a lot of info on them, such as addresses, number of employees, total income in the last year, taxes and several other information you shouldn't be concerned about right now"

Woah, what? So Liliana's family has this many business all over the world?

"Er, Liliana?"

"Uhm? What is it?'

I scratch my head, this is something I've been wanting to ask her for a while

"What kind of business does your family run?"

She throws an impish smile at me, that Liliana from the teasing in the hallway is here again

"Say Tatseyo, why don't you open that cabinet over there to grab us a little something?"

I make a confused expression

"Uhm? Cabinet?"

"Yes, over there"

She says pointing towards a big door at a end of the room, behind the mini-bar

Is she suggesting for us to drink?

"Uhm, Liliana, I don't know about you... but I'm still underage"

She waves her hand

"Don't worry, just go there and open it"

I walk behind the counter and open the door wide open and walk in, there's a lot of space in here!

"Damn..."

As expected there are lots of drinks in here: Champagne, wine, beer, whisky, vodka, tequila, even some that I can't understand what's written on the label.

"What is this?"

The closet also has a separate space with packets of cigarretes, boxes of cigars and even tobacco.

Woah, I recognize this one!

My grandfather (father's father) smokes and this cigar was one of his favourites, he used to smoke them on celebratory occasions like christmas, New Year and birthdays.

I take one in my hands, if I remember correctly this one is...

"You picked a good one"

"Woah!"

Liliana is standing right at the entrance, it took me by surprise, so I almost dropped the cigar

"Liliana, I didn't saw you there"

I hold the cigar up to her

"If I remember well, this one costs about 10,000 yen in Japan, right?

She smiles

"Close, are you acquainted with them? Even though you said you were underage..."

I gasp

"No, that's not it! My grandfather used to love these, that's how I got to know them"

She laughs a little at my answer

"Fufufu, I was just kidding. So what do you think of our family business?"

I am baffled, so they own all of these brands?!

"All of this belongs to you?"

She answers me while picking up a bottle of wine

"Actually it belongs to my family, the Caim family's main job is supplying humans and devils alike with their addictions, whether it's drinking, smoking or gambling, we've been providing these things for hundreds of years. The underworld doesn't work on magic alone you know?"

Amazing, so the devils have their grasp around so many things in our world, it just makes me realize even more how little I knew.

"Liliana-san, Sona-kaichou told me that you help your family's business, isn't that a lot even for you to handle? It must be really stressful"

Liliana seems to be around the age of Rias and Akeno, maybe a little older, but I still think this must be a ton of work for a young woman, well, of course she can be much older than she looks since she's a devil

But she just smiles

"I'm happy to see you worrying about me, but it's fine, I don't handle everything by myself, what I do is mostly regarding just one of our branches"

I nod

"I understand, still it must be very hard"

I never worked with anything but exorcism and paranormal hunting in my life, so I don't know how difficult an administration job is

Liliana sighs

"Well, it wasn't actually very hard untill this year... when the Khaos Brigade began to make their moves, they've been causing trouble to all devils, everywhere."

So the Khaos Brigade has been causing trouble to Liliana-san, why would they do such a thing?

"You and Azazel told me about this Khaos Brigade, but you didn't really told me their motivations. Why are they doing this?"

She looks a bit troubled

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain if you don't know the full picture, but I'll try my best."

She then holds the wine bottle up

"I think this will make the explanation a bit easier, wanna join us?"

I shake my head

"Thank you, but no, I already said that I'm underage and I don't think someone like me should get drunk"

I've never drinked more than a glass of wine and a cup of beer in my entire life, can't say I disliked it, but the thought of what I might cause if I get drunk made me utterly afraid of drinking.

"Uhm, I see, there's a bottle of coke in the fridge, we use it to make drinks, feel free to take it if you want some"

She says as she turns around and walks out of the closet

I go to the fridge, there is actually more than one but they have glass doors so I can see the bottle of coke inside one of them. I take the bottle and one of the glass cups and join Liliana and Mayumi who are sitting on a couch while pouring their drinks in a table in front of it

Mayumi sees me with the bottle of coke and makes a confused expression

"Ara, you won't be joining us?"

"N-no, I really think I shouldn't drink"

Liliana nods before sipping on her cup

"He's probably right, if Tatseyo got seriously drunk and lost control, who knows how long this town would last"

So Liliana understands, I don't know my limit so even more than a cup might be dangerous.

Mayumi nods

"Oh my, that's no good, if you gonna stay with us then you gotta learn to drink you know?"

She has a legitimate worried expression, is not drinking such a big problem?

"Mayumi is right, but this will be for another time, sit here"

Liliana makes a sign for me to sit next to her, I take a sit and she starts folding through some papers, I notice that these papers are different from the others

"Why do these papers have this red tape on the edge?"

Liliana has surprised expression

"Oh, so you noticed! Well, this ones are reports actually, about certain... discrepancies that have occured since the Khaos Brigade arrived. You see Tatseyo, their motivation apparently has all to do with their current leader: Ophis"

Ophis, I heard that name before, that's right! One of the fake heroes said that name, so he thought I was sent by their leader, huh?

"The heroes that I allowed to escape said that name to me, who is this person?"

Liliana has troubled expression

"I wouldn't call her a person, no, there's no way she can be called that at all. You already know about the existences of dragons"

I nod

"Yes, I remember"

"Well, Ophis is what could be called a God of Dragons, in the moment it asssumed the appearance of a young girl, but it's far beyond human. She represents the infinte and it's without a doubt one of the strongest creatures in this world, more than you, your mother or anyone you know"

God of Dragons?! Are we seriously dealing with such a dangerous opponent?

I wide my eyes in surprise

"W-why is she leading them? What's her goal?"

Mom is a heroine and living close to heroes made me get to know a lot of evil organizations, some aimed for money and others aimed for things like world domination and such, but I can't imagine what such a dangerous creature could want, what could a God possibly desire?

"The silence..."

Liliana gives me this simple answer

"What?"

"Even a God has it's origins Tatseyo, Ophis is a being that was "born" in a place know as the Dimensional Gap, a place where nothing exists and time and space are meaningless, Ophis lived in there in peace for a very long time until..."

Liliana turns the pages to an illustration of a huge and scary red dragon

"This came up"

Hey, I know this creature

"The Seikiryuushintei? So he exists too?"

The Great Red Dragon described in ancient religious texts, a frightening existece know as [Dragon of Dragons]

"So you know the name of the Dragon of Dragons, huh? He is the only know entity capable of opposing Ophis, it took her place in the Dimensional gap and now it swims there for eternity"

"And why does this concerns us? Shouldn't we let them sort their problems out by themselves?"

Liliana shakes her head

"No, a fight between these creatures could destroy the world Tatseyo, it's something we must avoid at all costs"

Destroy the world? Crap, this is even more serious than I thought...

"But why would the Hero faction side with her? Wouldn't they be doomed too if this world got destroyed?"

Mayumi who is at the opposite side of Liliana speaks

"Ara, it seems like he thinks the same way as you, Liliana-sama"

Liliana also has pleased expression

"I know, I have also discussed this with Mayumi and the others. I believe Ophis is saying the truth regarding her goals, but her followers in the Khaos Brigade must have some sort of ulterior motive, I think they are manipulating her"

I ask astounished

"Manipulating a God?"

Liliana smiles

"It's easier than you think. But still, I don't have any evidence to back up my theory, nor any idea of what their ulterior motive might be, so at the moment, I'm dealing with the problems at hand while trying to gather evidence."

I ask confused

"Problems at hand?"

"Yes, you see Tatseyo, far from only attacking devils and causing havoc, the Khaos Brigade is also attacking the foundations of the whole world for their own political agenda, some members have a particular dislike for the rulers of several factions, including the Gods and the Maous"

Wow, so even in hell there are political issues like that?

"Rias-senpai and Sona-kaichou's brothers? Why would they dislike them?"

"A long time ago the underworld of devils went through something that could be called a civil war, in the process the Old Maou and it's followers were either killed or exhiled and Sirzechs, which is the name of Rias' brother, and his partners took charge."

Liliana then sighs

"Well, that's what allowed my clan to become so strong, so I shouldn't be complaining"

I don't understand what she's saying

"That helped your family to become strong?"

She lifts her finger

"Of course, while in the war, many devils negleted their other non-combat duties, but we were still expanding, training, buying, preparing for when the war would end, this way, even if lifes on our side were lost, we would still have certain strength"

-!

Liliana's words get me shocked! So her ancestors worked behind the scenes to get stronger even when they were in the middle of a war? This gives me troubled feelings, on one hand you could label them as two-faced, but weren't they doing what was best for their household? Can you really blame them?

"I-I see, that's quite amazing"

I say the only thing I believe I should say right now

"It is, right? A Caim can be a lot of things, but never dumb. We did lost a lot in that war, just like everyone, but we managed to be on top in the end"

This only confirms what I already thought about Liliana, she is a smart girl who knew how to trick me and knock me out when I fought against Rias and her peerage, she also taught me a new way to use my powers in the middle of an emergency situation and managed to solve it by doing so. For me, it's no surprise that her family must be filled with intelligent, cunning people.

"But that brings a lot of trouble as well..."

Liliana speaks as I'm pondering about her family's history

"What kind of troubles?"

She sighs

"Well, we weren't killed or exhiled, so you must know that my family abandoned the Old Maou faction and sided with the new Maous, because of that we are one of their main targets, but it's also because... well, my family wasn't exact kind to them..."

"What do you mean?"

Liliana makes a troubled expression

"You see... the Caim family made forced acquisitions and even took territory and properties that used to belong to the Old Maou faction, they don't exactly like us because of that, so we've been having our hands full in the last few months dealing with those pesky terrorists"

That's why they're also causing trouble to Liliana and her clan as well! I can kinda understand their side too, but it was a time of war and if their grudge is going to cost human lifes and the balance of this world, I can't possibly side with them

"That's why I'm here, I'll help anyway I can"

She gives me another gentle smile

"Thank you, we really appreciate your help, but in the meantime, I think we should start your training right?"

I nod

"Yes, I also appreciate your help"

She giggles

"Okay, I believe that before anything else, I should introduce to everyone, after all, my peerage will also be helping you."

The other espers on Liliana's peerage, I only spent a small time with them, but if they are with her, I can get to the conclusion that they must be abnormally strong.

"You already know Mayumi, she is my [Queen] and the first to join my peerage, she also works as my secretary"

Mayumi nods, they do seem like good friends

"Do you want me to call the others, Liliana-sama?"

Liliana seem to think for a while before answering

"Yes, I think now would be a good time, I hope Manaki won't be too busy working, seriously, that girl can get so absorbed sometimes..."

She's putting a troubled expression, Manaki must be the blue haired girl, right?

"Do all your servants work for you?"

I ask her, it's a doubt I've been having for a while, all the servants of Gremory are part of the ORC and all the servants of Sitri are in the student council, so I believe that Liliana will also be having her servants working under her.

Liliana nods confirming my suspicions

"Yes, they all work here in different sections of this casino"

I freeze after hearing her words, I forgot that this is a casino!

"...Li-Liliana-san, you know that gambling is illegal in Japan, right? Is this casino..."

She quickly dismisses my idea

"Illegal? No, this is not even a normal casino, Tatseyo, it's the type that can only be seem by supernatural beings or humans with involvement with them, such as magicians, those who have pacts with devils and obviously..."

She then points at me

"Espers!"

Really? So there exists places like this? I've heard about them, but being in one is seriously amazing, it even makes me feel like I'm privileged, a VIP or something

"You can only access the casino through the lobby, which only supernatural beings can enter, so don't worry, this place is completely separate from the laws of the human world"

So it's a Casino binded by the laws of the underworld? Of course! I forgot to even think about it, but if the devil's have a government, then they obviously have laws too! Ah, the more I thing about it, the more complicated it gets, but there is one question that's bothering me the most right now

"Liliana-san, where am I? Are we still in Kuoh town?"

I never heard about this casino before, so it's either very well hiden or in a part where I still didn't reach in Kuoh

But Liliana tilts her head

"Ara? No, that's impossible, you know, high-class devils can have their own territories in the human world. Kuoh town is Rias' and Sona's territory, I couldn't possibly run a business in there"

I knew about that, so this confirms that I am not in Kuoh town. Then where am I?

"So... where is the Dark Devil Casino?"

She gives a playful smile before pointing

"Fufufu, why don't you open the curtains Tatseyo?"

There are red curtains covering what seems to be a large windom in the room.

"O-okay"

I get up and nervously walk towards it

I gently open the curtains...

-!

The vision I have almost makes me fall back

This is not Kuoh town!

The billboards on the street are all different, there are huge buildings and bright lights all over!

By the view I'm having, I can definitely say this is a big town and we are in a very high floor!

It's beautiful! But..

"What the hell..."

I speak with barely any strength in my voice

Where am I?

I feel someone approaching me from the back as I stare mesmerized at the town below us

Liliana gets really close and softly whispers in my ear

"Welcome to Kuromaku town, Ta-tse-yo ~ "

That's far away from Kuoh town!

* * *

Afterword: I really took long to post these chapters didn't I? Real world didn't made things any easier, but I was also writing this chapter together with the one before it, so it was like working on two chapters at once, when I realized I should post them separate it was too late and I was almost finishing it, well, I hope you all enjoy it


	26. Dog youkai

**Part 1**

"Are you okay now, Tatseyo? You went pale and your eyes looked like they were going to pop out, I knew you would be surprised but that was bit too much, don't you think?"

Liliana and Mayumi helped me to sit down after the initial shock

"Too much? You teleported me to another side of the country! Of course I would be surprised!"

Kuromaku is a huge town, even though it's relatively new compared to the other ones, it thrives mostly in commerce, tourism and cultural industry. With a population of over 1 million people that rises each year as more come looking for new opportunities. Summing it up, it's big, bustling and full of life, the very opposite of Kuoh's small and peaceful town vibe.

However, this has also attracted trouble, news have been warning about the increasing crime rates in town, as Yakuza and other criminal groups move in

And it's in this town that Liliana's territory and the Dark Devil Casino are in

"So this is the Dark Devil Casino?"

Liliana nods

"Yes, I'm sorry that we didn't told you before. But I'm the heiress of my family, so I decided to build this Casino as my main business and HQ"

So this Casino is to her a bit like the school is to Rias and Sona, but this is on a total different level!

"That's amazing, though it makes me troubled to deal with someone so powerful..."

Liliana laughs

"Fufufu, don't worry, I'm not a scary girl"

She says in a teasing voice

"Wait a second, does that mean I'll have to come here everytime?"

Liliana tilts her head

"And what would be the problem? We can just teleport you here"

Don't say it like it's a regular thing! I would be teleporting around the country on daily basis!

"Though we would have to work on your vocabulary"

Mayumi says it and Liliana nods

"She's right, we devils have the ability to speak and understand any language know to man, but if you plan to stay as human, then you'll need to learn how to read and talk to other creatures and foreign agents, this casino receives lots of foreign customers"

I nod at their words, it's still very weird, but if being teleported and some language classes are the price I have to pay then so be it!

"Okay, I'll do it!"

I say confidently

"Ara, you really seem pumped up, fufufu"

Mayumi says with a laugh

"Well Mayumi, I think it's time for introductions don't you think?"

"Yes, Ojou"

Right after they say this, a demonic seal appears in front of the table

"Ara, can this be...?"

Mayumi seems confused

"I think it is"

Liliana gets up from the couch and answers the seal

"Hello... Manaki? I was just about to call you..."

I can't hear the other side of the line, but her golden eyes wide and she replies with a concerned tone

"What?! Right now of all times? Alright, send an alert to the others, we'll deal with this immediately."

She then gives a long sigh after "hanging up"

"I'm sorry Tatseyo, but it seems that tonight will be your first pratical lesson"

Pratical lesson?

"W-what happened?"

I ask nervously

"You see, this town is my territory and just like Rias and Sona take care of Kuoh town, we also have to deal with things concerning the underworld here"

I get where she's heading to

"So there's an attack of the Khaos Brigade?"

Liliana nods

"Yes, not a direct attack to us, but there seems to be terrorist activity in town and we can't just wait for them to do something, we have to act now"

She says with a determined face

"The others will be here soon, so you'll be tagging along with us."

After Liliana finishes, a magic circle glows on the ground and the other three servants appear from it: The amazon, the glasses girl and the old man.

They seem surprised upon seeing me

"So he finally decided to show up, huh?"

The white haired amazon is the first to speak

"This is going to be interesting..."

The old man says stroking his beard

"..."

The blue haired girl doesn't say a thing and just approaches and reaches her hand to me.

"I'm Manaki Ishida, you are the son of Lady Tatsumaki and Kageyama-san, right? I'm looking forward to work with you"

She's polite, however, she speaks in monotone with an expression that is blank and hard to read, but I shake her hand anyway

"T-thank you, I'm also looking forward to it"

"Eh... Manaki-chan?"

Liliana calls her servant and she immediately turns around

"Sorry Liliana-sama, we should head there as quickly as possible"

She bows to Liliana and hands her a sheet

"That's the information I've gathered"

Liliana reads the paper with a concerned expression

"I see, let's get going then, Mayumi, do you mind going alone with Tatseyo?"

For what Liliana told me before, she can't teleport me so easily using magic circle because I'm not a devil, so I think she wants Mayumi to take me with her since she can use teleportation

"No problem~"

Mayumi says as she embraces my arm, I know you have to make contact, but don't you think that's a bit too much?

"H-hey-"

VOOM

But before I can say anything, we are teleported to a place that seems like the entrance for an area full of abandoned warehouses, I can sense intense demonic energy from within it

Liliana and the others appear soon after us

"Where are we?"

I ask Liliana-san

She makes a sign for me to lower my voice

"Be careful Tatseyo, we are here for a rescue mission"

Rescue?

"Are you talking about a kidnapping?"

Liliana frowns and shakes her head

"Worse, human trafficking"

What?!

"...Though "human" is not exactly the word for it"

Manaki says it, but before I can ask her what she means by it, Liliana breaks the gate leading to the area with a magic shot

"Let's go!"

Her servants take position and go ahead, guess I should go as well

But as I start to advance, I feel Liliana's hand on my shoulder

"Wait, you walk in the back with me, Tatseyo"

"Uhm, why?"

She lifts her finger

"This is a learning experience for you, my servants can take care of whatever comes at us, so focus on what I'm gonna tell you, okay?"

"O-okay"

I stay by Liliana's side as we advance

"You see, a long time ago, there was a three sided war between the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and God with its Angel followers. All three sides had a large army and they fought for almost eternity. As a result, all three sides lost most of their troops and the war finished several hundred years ago with no side winning. The war continued in the background for a lot longer until a treaty was finally signed this year, it created the Alliance that we are currently fighting for. "

The sacred wars, I always thought this was a legend told by the church, so Edmond was right, it did happened

"So the Alliance is that recent?"

Liliana nods and answers with a smile

"Yes it is, I don't know if Rias told you, but the first peace meeting was held at Kuoh academy itself you know? Along with the first attack from the Khaos Brigade"

"Really? Damn, that was important! Wait, if it was there doesn't it mean that civilians could have been hurt?"

Shit, I wish I could have been there to help

"Don't worry, the reunion was held in the day off and the school was surrounded by a barrier, so no civilians were hurt"

I breath out in relieve, that's good, but I still wonder how it would be if I had been there

"Still regarding the war, each side had heavy losses and the devils were no exception. Big Devils with peerage who commanded about 20 or 30 troops lost most of their underlings because of the war. They lost so many that they couldn't even form new armies."

Mayumi, who is going in the front with the others, continues after Liliana

"Most of the pure devils died during the war, so to make it up for the ones we lost the devils created the [Evil piece] system that reincarnated other creatures into devils with special traits depending on the piece used"

So that was the reason why the evil pieces were created

"What does this "trait" means?"

I'm confused, but this sounds important so I'm making my best to understand

"Rias didn't explained it to you did she?"

I shake my head

"Well, devils with peerage decide to use the traits of the human's game "Chess" to their Servant Devils. It was also sarcasm, because most of the servants are Devils that were reincarnated from humans. Since then, Chess became a popular game in the world of the Devils. We'll leave that aside. Devils who are masters are a [King]. In our case, that is me. From there, they created 5 special traits that consist of [Queen], [Knight], [Rook], [Bishop] and [Pawn]. Since they couldn't make an army, they decided to have a small number of Devils and give them enormous powers. This system was made in the past a few hundred years ago, and this became unexpectedly popular amongst Devils with peerage."

"Chess is popular among devils?"

Liliana nods

"Very! They even started making competitions called Rating Games against each other using their Servant Devils. Now, there are even tournaments for it. The strength of their [Pieces] and also how strong they are at the game affects the Devils' social position and their peerage's. There is a thing called [Piece Collect] where they gather humans with talents and make them into their [Pieces]. It's very popular recently. Talented servants become their status."

"Status? What do you mean by it?"

"The more battles you win, the more prestige, fame and even wealth you gain from it"

I get it now, though I'm not surprised, it's expected that strength would mean a lot in the world of devils

We then walk in front of a warehouse that is emitting a great amount of demonic energy from within

"It's here"

Liliana says as she approaches the heavy steel door and touches it

"Heh, a seal... do they really think this will stop me? What do you think, Manaki?"

The blue haired girl adjusts her glasses

"A fifth rate barrier for a fifth rate demon"

Liliana gives a smirk at the girl's blunt answer and summons her own seal

"Disappear!"

She declares and the seal around the warehouse breaks

"Diz, would you do the honours?"

"Thought you wouldn't ask"

The amazon steps in and puts her arms up as if she's ready to break the doors down

Her fist goes forward ready to demolish the steel gates open...

But she stops right before making contact

"Uh? Hold on..."

The white haired woman says as she stands up normally and looks confused at the door

"Diz-chan? What happened?"

Instead of attacking the steel doors, she lightly punches the lock, breaking it

She then pushes the door and it opens easily

Seeing the ridiculous scene that just happened, Liliana and her team members give a small chuckle

"To think they wouldn't even block the door... fufufu, let's go"

She motions for us to move forward, but I still stay behind talking with her, being careful not to make too much noise

"So... about that status thing, is that why you want me to become your servant?"

Not wanting to brag, but I know I am very powerful and if Rias and her peerage can tell something about the average devil's strength, then I think I would be ranked quite highly if I joined them.

But to my surprise Liliana shakes her head and says "No"

"I do take part in rating games, I'm even considered a genius on it. But to reach my true dream, I'm afraid it'll take much more than that."

"Your dream? What do you mean by it?"

Giorno Giovanna immediately appeared on my mind when she said it, but I shake my head to get rid of the thought and look at Liliana who has a sad expression

"The devil society has great problems regarding prejudice against lower classes and social mobility. The Rating Games give people a chance to climb the social ladder, but those who don't have talent or those who don't have status are scorned, rejected and usually don't even get a chance to show their potential"

Prejudice, devils really aren't so different from humans...

"Rias told me about it, mixed bloods also have problems there, right?"

She nods

"Yes, the rejected ones are denied many things, like good education, chances to participate in tournaments and even decent employment, however, there are devils who are trying to change that, I am one of them"

Liliana says pointing at herself, which gets me even more confused

"Why would you want to change that if you benefit from it? Isn't it good to be above the others?"

While it's an actual good goal, I still wonder why she wants to change a system that benefits her. Liliana answers while looking ahead with a pensative look

"I have personal reasons and I also had problems when I first began in the rating games. Devils looked down on espers because they don't have status on the underworld, thankfuly I am a noble so I had the chance to show them they were wrong. But I want to make Espers accepted and recognized throughout the whole underworld and maybe someday create relations between us and the esper community"

"Amazing..."

I'm completely surprised by what she said, so she's thinking this far ahead? Liliana sure is impressive!

"But even if I didn't had this objective..."

She says while turning to me with a smile

"You don't need a reason to do what's right, isn't it?"

I feel my face get hotter when she says this, that's exactly right!

"Y-yeah! Of course!"

"Fufufu"

She gives a small laugh while covering her mouth with her hand

"That's an amazing objective you have, so that's why you want me to join your peerage? To help you on your dream?"

Liliana puts her hand on her chin

"Huh... it's true you would be a great addition, but I'm more interested in something else..."

She points to me with a playful smile

"I wanna see how far I can take you, are you willing to come with me?"

I smile back at her, this girl gives me a confidence I've never felt from anyone before!

"Yes, of cou-"

GROOOOOWL!

As I'm answering her, a loud growling sound resounds through the factory

Demonic presence!

The servants make a battle stance, ready to attack at any moment

"So the Dark Devil and her freak show decided to show their faces in here"

What appears in front of us is a huge beast that seems like a hybrid between a man and hound dog. I has a black fur, large claws and a mouth with sharp teeth that seems to be watering non-stop

"Stray devil Mibor! So you are the one behind this operation!"

Liliana looks really angry and a huge silver aura envelops her body! Her servants are also emitting a huge amount of ESP energy, as I expected from Liliana's servants, they must be a really strong bunch

"Hahahahaha! When the Khaos Brigade offered me such an obscene amount of money for those lowly creatures there was no way we could refuse!"

The creature laughs loudly showing its big and sharp teeth, it's salive drips on the floor, disgusting...

"So the Khaos Brigade is behind it, I knew there was something fishy, once we are done I'll make you spill out every single detail about them!"

The creature laughs again

"The only way this party is going to end is with your bones being used as toothpick! Kill them my children!"

At his orders a pack of wolf like creatures jump from the shadows

"Liliana-san, what should I do?"

If I use my powers here I can destroy them with ease, but Liliana shakes her head

"This is a class for you Tatseyo, so stay behind and let my reliable servants do their job"

"Alright..."

I agree with Liliana and return to idle

"Manaki!"

"Yes, Ojou"

The girl with blue hair charges ahead, she's very fast and agile! Dodging the attacks while leaving after images and then leaps in the air!

[Psychic arsenal]

She declares while levitating with her body upside down, suddenly the roof of the warehouse becomes filled with blue weapons such as swords, axes and spears, they don't seem physical, it seems that they are made of mixing aura, ESP energy and demonic power.

"...Takedown"

She says and all the weapons fall down, piercing the bodies of the wolf creatures

Some of them try to dodge, but the weapons change direction mid-air like track missiles and slash them

They howl in pain and disappear, however a few are still alive

"Manaki is my [Knight], whose trait is enhanced speed and agility, her speciality is materialization, it allows her to create a variety of tools, weapons and such simply using her aura and also control them freely."

Liliana says while looking at the fierce attack of her servant

"Incredible, she's really good"

It reminds me a little of Kiba's sword birth, but she can create more than just swords and also manipulates them

Manaki lands by our side but she doesn't seem all too pleased

"...Sorry Ojou, it seems like I wasn't able to take them all out"

Liliana shakes her head

"You did great Manaki-chan, but it seems that some are smarter than others, Galard!"

The old man materializes a wood staff in his hand and taps it on the ground

"Yes, Ojou!"

The ground below us starts to crack and several thick vines come out of it

"Wo-woah!"

I say as I almost lose my balance due to the ground shaking

"Henry Galard is my [Bishop], it's trait is enhanced magical power that he uses to boost his clorokinetic skill"

Clorokinesis! I know people who can do that, but this old man takes it to a whole new level! Wait, did she said his name was Henry Galard? No, this has to be some sort of coincidence, he can't be _that_ Henry Galard, there's just no way.

[Cradle Forest]

The vines move like they have a will of their own and entangle every wolf in the room, even if they try to take cover, the vines either destroy or lift it. Some wolves even try to destroy them, but the plants recover very fast.

"Kekekeke, you are a naughty bunch, get ready to be punished!"

As he declares this, the vines create large spikes that pierce the creatures right away

But this time it doesn't seem like they turned to ash

Their bodies turn into aura and seem to be absorbed by the vines, colored veins start pumping from them it just lasts for a few seconds before the vines turn to normal, just what was that?

"GROWL! You bastards! Growl, how do you dare to kill my precious children! I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"

Just as I'm wondering about Galard's ability, the pissed off beast comes charging towards us

It puts it's claws covered in aura forward, it's coming for Liliana!

I stand in front of her

"Liliana, sta-"

Before I can finish it, a punch comes and stops the monster's hand from reaching us, Liliana has a smile on her face

"Thanks, Diz-chan"

The amazon girl has her fist forward, her punch completely stopped the monster's hand and left a hole on it's palm!

"GROWL! My hand! My hand! You damn woman! I'll crush you like an insect!"

The monster lifts it's huge foot and tries to step on Diz but...

[Psychic Enhancement]

She holds the stomp with just one hand! Amazing!

"Diz is my [Rook], her trait is an incredible strength and high defence, she uses it to increase her psychic enhancement even further"

I already knew about it, Psychic enhancement or as some call it "Psychic steroids", increases to enormous levels the user's strength and resistance, it can turn even the most frail and weak person into a boulder crushing warrior, but it works even better if the person already has a naturally strong body. This white haired girl not only seems very fit, but she also has the trait of the [Rook] that Liliana just mentioned, so I can just imagine how strong she really is.

"Yaaaanw, is that all you got?"

With her free hand, Diz is covering her mouth like she is yawning!

"You cursed woman! Die!"

The creature lifts its leg even higher and tries again for another stomp, but Diz holds it again with a single hand

"So noisy, if that's all you got then just shut up and die!"

[Shock Wave]

Diz punches the sole of the creatures foot

-!

Amazing! Instead of just creating a hole like before, it's whole leg exploded! Blood, bones and muscle of the creature's leg fly everywhere.

I create a barrier to shield me and Liliana from the burst of gore that Diz created

"Thank you Tatseyo"

"N-no problem, but what was that? What did she do that the creature's leg just got blowed up like that?"

"Aside from her enhancement, Diz-chan can also manipulate energy and telekinetic force to create powerful shockwaves and send them through whatever means she wants, be it air, water, the ground or even someone's body"

Woah, so that's what she did, so she's also an energy manipulator and has one scary ability! It basically means she just sent an earthquake in the creature's leg!

We approach Diz, who is standing next to the creature that is howling in pain. Surprisingly, she and the other servants are also clean as if the blood also didn't hit them.

"Thank you for not killing him, Diz-chan"

The amazon just waves her hand

"No problem, though I kinda had to hold back quite a bit for that"

Holding back, as expected, all the members of her team are high class espers

"So, are you ready to spill your guts?"

Liliana says patting the monster's head

"Nooo! You and your filthy servants can go to hell! I'd rather die than tell you shit! Kill me already! Kill me! Kiilllllll meeeee!"

The monster begs for death while Liliana sighs

"It can't be helped, I already knew you wouldn't say it so easily, but I wanted to give you a chance, Mayumi it's your turn now"

"Fufufu, yes Ojou"

Is she going to read his mind?

Mayumi pulls out a paper fan and swings it into the air with it while Liliana explains

"Mayumi is my [Queen], which means she is the second after me in terms of importance, she is my trusted secretary with the traits of all the other pieces and more."

I'm astonished looking at her, but Liliana keeps going

"Telepathy, teleport, these are all very useful skills that Mayumi mastered, but her true speciality is..."

[Wild Wind]

"The ability to manipulate air itself as her weapon!"

The air around us starts to move erraticaly as deep cuts start to appear on the creatures body and the blood starts to flow

"Auuuuu! Stop it, stop it! Just kill me!"

Liliana shakes her head

"No, not untill you tell me everything you know"

"Fufufu, so this wasn't enough? How about this then?"

She moves her fan once more and the blood of the monster starts to take strange shapes, seeing to get sharp on the edges and even form bubbles and change colour

The monster screams in agony

"AUUUUUUUUUU!"

Liliana and Mayumi smirk as the monster trembles

"My [skill] allows me to control not only the wind, but also any gas that I want, how does it feel to have the oxygen in your blood toyed with?"

So she can even use it to control the gas in your own blood? What a monster! She's a real Killer Queen!

"Fine! Fine! I'll tell you... I was contacted by a guy named Georg, he said his faction was part of the Khaos Brigade and they were going to pay a lot of dough for slaves, magical items and anything that they could use for support, he told me that they were also searching for a way to counterfeit the Phoenix Tears, but that's all he told me! They even gave me reinforcements to kidnap those children! They are in the second floor behind a steel door!"

He kidnapped children?! That's so much worse than I thought!

"He's telling the truth Ojou"

Mayumi confirms

"Disgusting, a greedy creature like you has no right to live in this world"

Liliana's golden eyes seem to have lost it's glow and are now dull as she stares down at the creature with a great killing intent

The beast simply growls and says

"Do you even know the value those creatures have in the black market? I would be fucking rich just by selling half of them!"

Liliana's aura is burning with intensity! She'll kill this guy!

"I've had enough! Death is the only reward you deserve!"

A surge of demonic power gathers at Liliana's hand

CLING

But what I thought it would be a explosion to disintegrate the creature, turns out to be a showering of magic spears that impale several parts of it's body to the ground but appear to miss the vital spots

"AGHHHHHHHHH!"

The creature screams in pain, but Liliana simply turns around and walks away while talking to it

"I never said I'd give you a painless death, suffer untill your last breath for the lifes you took and the ones you hurt"

The creature can no longer speak and simply chokes on it's own blood while it's body violently convulses

And then... it suddenly stops.

Liliana is amazing, but she sure knows how to be scary!

"Tatseyo, are you coming?"

Liliana says to me, she and her servants are already at the other end of the room while I was watching the final moments of this horrendous creature

"Ye-yes!"

I run to keep up with them

We walk upstairs to the second floor of the warehouse

"That was what we usually call a Stray Devil, devils that betray or kill their masters and bring harm into this world, the Khaos Brigade seems to be taking advantage of them to do their dirty work"

So they also use the word "Stray" here

"Stray demons... we use this name too"

Liliana makes a confused face

"You too?"

"Ye-yeah, it's some espers refer to ghosts as "Evil spirits" and to devils that cause trouble as "Stray Demons", but it's just a coincidence, there are many other names for them"

Liliana seems surprised at my explanation

"I see, well, it's a small world, coincidences are bound to happen"

When we reach the second floor, there's a place obviously different from the others, while everything in here looks old and abandoned, this room has a steel door that looks new and a modern keypad with lighted up symbols on it

"What are these symbols?"

I ask and Liliana answers

"Demonic alphabet, it's the letters and numbers that devils use, they must be keeping them here..."

Those were the symbols that some of the books in the ORC had, so that's the devil's language

"Are we going to burst the door?"

I ask and Liliana thinks for a second before answering

"We could... but I think this is another good opportunity for you to shine, Manaki-chan"

The glasses girl steps forward

"Yes, Ojou"

Manaki touches the door's keypad

"I got it"

She says and then dials the symbols, the keypad flashes green and the sound of the door unlocking can be heard

"Is this psychometry?"

Liliana nods with a satisfied expression

"Yes, the ability to acquire information about any object or person just by touching it"

Liliana answers me, so she can do this too! Just like Kuriko!

"That's great!"

Manaki adjusts her glasses and speaks in monotone

"Thank you, but it's not that impressive..."

Liliana opens the door, it's pitch black inside, but once the light from the corridor illuminates the room...

"GAAAAH!"

"NO! NO!"

"Please let us go!"

"Where's my mamma?"

There are about 6 boys and girls bounded by chains to the wall! And they're clearly not human, their body and face might be, but they have animal features, like ears, tails and horns.

"Oh crap..."

"That bastard... to think they would go this far"

Liliana says this clutching her hand

"Are they... all youkais?"

I ask to Liliana who nods with an angered expression

"Have you heard about the crime rate in this town? Most part of the criminal activity going on not only in here, but on several other towns, is due to criminal groups formed or led by supernatural beings. Kidnapping other devils to sell them as slaves is something the Stray devils have been doing for a very long time, but to think that the Khaos Brigade would have them organized like this, unforgivable..."

I become completely astonished by Liliana's revelation and bite my lip in anger

"They were going to sell this youkais as slaves to the Khaos Brigade?"

"Yes, the Khaos Brigade has a way to brainwash or force them to fight as cannon fodder"

I clutch my fist and grit my teeth furiously. I have no words to describe this, it's beyond inhuman, such an attrocious act that I can't describe it simply

"...Is it okay if I break their chains?"

It's the only thing I can say in my current anger

"Yes, please"

I raise my hand and break the chains that were binding them to the wall

They seem more at ease now so Liliana steps forward

"We are here to free all of you! We have taken care of the evil creature that took you from your families, no one will harm you from now on"

They look at each other with joy in their eyes, they all seem to be around 14-16 years old.

Liliana walks up to one of the girls

"What is your name?"

The girl answers while sobbing

"Y-yui..."

"I am Liliana Caim, did they hurt you Yui?"

The little girl nods

"Ye-yes, he said his customers would brainwash us and then he would sell us as slaves! I want to see mom and dad, I wanna go back go home, I-I..."

The girl answers before bursting into tears, Liliana embraces her

"Don't worry, everything will be fine, no one will harm any of you."

She lets the little girl go after she calms down

"Tha-thank you... Liliana-san"

"Tell me, do you like flowers?"

They all nod

Liliana smiles at them before turning to us

"Galard"

She calls the old man

"Right away, Ojou"

The old man silently taps his staff against the floor and grass starts growing from it as flowers of many colours appear on the ground!

"Woahhh!"

"So beautiful!"

They start touching and smelling the flowers, suddenly an aura comes from them and it seems like all the wounds they had were regenerated

"Galard can also use healing skills, when combined with his clorokinesis, he can channel his healing aura through the plants"

Liliana, who is at my side, says this

"That's amazing Liliana-san, that's..."

I then realize something, there are only 5 children playing with the flowers, one of them is still at a corner, curled up like she is crying

"Hey... Liliana-san, I think there is something wrong with her..."

I point at the girl, it seems that there is something wrong with the horn on her head, it seems to be cut

"Oh no..."

Liliana speaks with a worried expression and approaches the girl

She has a single cylindrical horn on the top of her head, magatama shaped "ears" where the ears of a human would be and a dog tail coming from the lower part of her back. I can't see her face since she's curled.

"Koma Inu..."

Even though I can't see her face, it's pretty obvious what she is, Liliana looks at me and nods in silence

Koma Inus are dog-lion youkais that are one of the few to have actual good relationships with humans, they keep guard on shrines and other sacred places and often offer protection to traditional families, even the most dangerous esper or exorcist respects these noble youkais. That dog-like demon is incredibly gutsy to have attacked them.

However, what calls me the most attention isn't her species, but her hair...

Not only it's green, but also long and curls on the ends just like mom's, except this girl's green is lighter

"Dear, everything is alright now, no one will harm you anymore"

The girl doesn't show any signs of moving so Liliana tries to take her hand

But she pushes back

"Leave me alone..."

The girl says in a muffled voice

But Liliana insists, her voice still calm and gentle

"We are here to help, my friend Galard will heal you, your horn will come back to normal and we'll take you to your parents okay?"

"You can't! I don't wanna go anywhere! I hate myself, I should have died in there!"

The girl bursts into tears at Liliana's words.

"If it wasn't for me, papa, momma and master wouldn't have been... they wouldn't have been... uwaaaaahhh!"

The girl starts crying before she can finish her sentence, but we all know what she was trying to say

Her parents and master were killed, there is no other explanation, that disgusting creature must have killed them, he probably had support from the Khaos Brigade to kill her parents. It will definitely take more than flowers and nice words to make her open up to us.

She lifts her head and I can see her face, she also has green eyes and by her face she seems to be around 15, she reminds me so much of mom! This is really not going to be easy...

Liliana turns to the other servants

"Take these children with you, Tatseyo, you go with them"

What? No way, there is no way I can leave this girl here!

"I won't go..."

Liliana looks at me confused

"Why not? I can take it from here"

I shake my head

"I know you can, but I can't leave her here, I wouldn't be able to face mom, dad and even myself if I left her here! Leave aside the heroes, I wouldn't be in peace with myself if I did that!"

Saving a person is more than saving them from peril but also about making them feel safe, about saving their hearts as well! Leaving this girl here is against everything I was ever taught!

Liliana seems surprised, but she soon nods and agrees

"I understand, Galard, Diz-chan, Manaki, Mayumi, can you take them?"

They nod and take the children out of the room

I kneel myself in front of the little girl

"Hello, my name is Tatseyo, what is yours?"

Trying to make a personal connection, I know that at least this much is important

"...Aya"

A response, that's good

"I am Tatseyo, tell me Aya-chan, why are you saying that you hate yourself?"

The youkai girl starts whipping her tears

"If I wasn't so weak... I could have helped mom and dad fighting! I could have saved master! None of that would have happened if it wasn't for me!"

She blames herself for their deaths, this is hard, as someone who was strong through my entire life and never had a great loss, I simply can't understand how she must be feeling. But even so I know what I should say

"I take it that your parents and your master protected you?"

She stays silent for a second before nodding

"They tried to hide me and fought the intruders... b-but they were too many, and they ended up finding me!"

She blurts out as tears begin falling again as she's probably starting to relive the things that happened

"And do you think they'd be happy to hear what you are saying?"

She stops her self-loathing for a moment, looks at me with her green eyes and shakes her head

I smile to her

"The fault wasn't yours, it was that monster's fault, he's gone now, but there are more like him. The men that aided him are still out there. We can protect you if you come with us and you'll also be able to fight them"

Aya starts whipping her tears

"But... master..."

"Your master died trying to protect you right? Your parents too, wasn't it? That's why you want to become stronger?"

She nods and I look into her eyes

"Then I'll make sure to fulfill their wish and yours too, will you help me with that?"

Aya answers in a melancolic tone as she turns her gaze to the floor again

"...Why are you doing this?"

It seems like she doesn't believe in me yet

"The men who killed your parents and master are our enemies too, but also..."

She lifts her head again

"We don't need a reason to do what's right"

I reach my hand to her

"So what do you say, wanna join us?"

Her eyes wide and she grabs my hand back

"Yes, I want to!"

I can't help but smile

I did it, thank god, I did it! I feel as if tears are about to come out, but I hold it back, I can't start crying now

Then a look of uncertainty comes to her eyes again, what happened?

"...I don't have anywhere to go"

I see, it must be hard to her, they must have also destroyed her home

But I pat her head and answer in the most reassuring tone I can muster

"That's not a problem, you can stay with me or with Liliana-san, if that's okay with you"

She looks with widden eyes at me again

"Re-really? Can I?"

I nod

"Yes, definitely! There's no way I'll leave you at your own luck"

I pull her up from the floor

"Now you are with us, nobody will hurt you anymore"

She nods her head and seems to be a little happier

"Thank you... thank you so much..."

She answers as tears again fall from her face

"C'mon, everything is alright now, first of all, we need to get Galard to heal you up, okay? "

I could try to rearrange matter by myself to heal her, but there's the risk she may have internal damage that I don't know of. So I think it's better to leave it to a real healer.

She nods and starts whipping her tears again

"Okay..."

She then reaches for the broken horn

"Can he... fix this?"

I give a thumbs up

"I'm sure he can, even if he can't, we'll still find a way to fix this cute horn of yours, I promise"

She grips my hand tighter

"Tha-thank you..."

I pat her head

"It's okay, we are just doing the right thing"

We walk hand in hand towards the door, Liliana is waiting for us in front of it, she looks at our hands and smiles

Liliana giggles, is she blushing too?

She kneels in front of the little girl

"Ara, aren't we lucky to have such a gentleman with us, Aya-chan?"

The girl nods

"Y-yes! Thank you onee-san, master"

Aya bows to her, she's still not smilling, but it's okay. I can't hope to make this girl smile right now after what she's been through, she'll smile eventually, right now, all that matters is rescuing her

"Then, shall we go?"

Liliana speaks as she grabs on the girl's other hand and I let Aya-chan go, we walk downstairs where the other servants are waiting for us.

"Oi, looks like you did it..."

The amazon greets us

"...As expected of Liliana-sama"

Manaki says this, but Liliana shakes her head and answers

"Actually, it wasn't me..."

She then looks at me

"Thank you, Tatseyo"

Her followers seem surprised, Liliana then looks at the green haired girl

"Aya-chan, are you ready to go home with us?"

The youkai girl nods

"Yes! Please!"

Liliana smiles

We are going back, to the Dark Devil Casino!

 **Part 2**

I'm sitting at the couch here at the casino's upper floor, for what Liliana told me some floors of this casino were modified to serve like a base for Liliana and her servants, but it seems like they don't live here.

I'm yet to see the casino's other floors and its outside, but I'll leave that for another day.

Right now there's a little girl sleeping soundly with her head on my lap. We healed Aya as soon as we got back to safety, she was surprised at the luxury room, but soon got tired after Liliana gave her something to eat.

"Cute, isn't she?"

Liliana says this as she sits by my side and starts stroking the little girl's green hair

"She really is..."

"Her hair reminds of Lady Tatsumaki's, doesn't it?"

I nod

"A lot, it was the first thing I noticed when I saw her"

"Was it what drove you to help her?"

She asks with an impish smile and I shake my head

"I would be lying if I said it didn't contribute, but since I was a kid, they taught me that helping people is more than just sending them to safety. It's about making them feel safe, about giving them hope"

I say this and Liliana gives me a beautiful and gentle smile

"You really are a good person, Tatseyo"

I can hear a bit of sadness in her voice or is it just my impression?

Liliana smiles sweetly at the girl as her fingers stroke the curls and occasionally brush against the horn on Aya's head, which has now been fixed

But the subject that has been on my mind comes up again and the seriousness returns to me

"So the Khaos Brigade is also involved with slave trade? You mean there's more?"

She makes a bitter expression

"Unfortunately yes, as well as many other things..."

Those cowards, they are worse than evil spirits, worse than monsters!

"I'm pissed of Liliana-san, but... I'm also glad"

"Glad?"

Liliana asks me with a confused expression

I nod and start caressing Aya's hair along with Liliana while looking at her sleeping face

"Yes, I'm glad we saved them, glad no one was seriously hurt, glad we could return them to their families and glad that this girl is now safe and sleeping right here. I know it won't be easy for her, I can't even imagine how much she must be suffering, but just the fact that she can sleep like this means we already helped her somehow."

I look away from Aya to Liliana, who is staring at me right in the eye with what I can only tell is a surprised expression

"Tatseyo..."

I look away, I'm really not used to be looked directly at the eyes!

"I-I'm sorry, I must have been talking nonsense, I know what we did wasn't that much and I also didn't helped in the fight but-"

Suddenly I feel a soft press against my cheek

...

K-kiss?

A kiss! Liliana-san just kissed my cheek!

It only lasts a moment before she breaks it, but I can tell her lips were really soft!

"W-w-what was that for?"

I ask nervously while covering the cheek she just kissed with my hand, unable to look at her, it's true! She just kissed my cheek!

Liliana smiles

"Fufufu, a gesture of gratitude, you might not believe, but you did a lot tonight for that girl and for me as well..."

I don't know what I could possibly have done for Liliana-san, but I'm happy. If I can be of help to them, then it's fine by me!

GROWL

Really? Right now?

"So-sorry for that... I just haven't eaten for some time so..."

Crap, my stomach betrayed me right after this tender kiss that Liliana just gave me! There couldn't be a worse time!

But she just giggles

"Are you hungry, Tatseyo? I could use some food too, wanna have dinner with me?"

Having dinner with Liliana? Yes, I really want to! I have only been eating the basic stuff I can prepare or pre-made food from the store. If I can have a real dinner with Liliana-san then it would be the best thing that has happened to me since I arrived!

I nod energetically

"Yes, if you don't mind having dinner with me"

"Fufufu, okay then, I'll call the kitchen and have them make us something"

Oh yeah, this is a casino, so there must be a restaurant in here too. I wonder what it tastes like...

* * *

"Uhmm! This is so good!"

I say as I take another bite of the feast in front of us

When Liliana said she would call for food, I imagined something like a small lunch, but what the sharp dressed waiter brought was nothing less than a japanese banquet! There are many different types of food and they all taste delicious!

"Fufufu, I'm glad you liked it. The chefs in here are used to a more international cuisine, but since it's you, I thought japanese food would be the best"

This is a high class casino for supernatural beings and those who have contact with the underworld, so it makes sense for it to offer international dishes. But even if you say that, this taste is top notch! If they can make food they aren't so used to taste this good, then I wonder how the others dishes are

"Want some?"

Liliana says holding a bottle of wine

"I'm sorry, I really don't think I should..."

"Just one cup won't kill you, think of this as a celebratory toast, we all did well today"

I look at the couch where Aya is soundly sleeping, I think she must be really tired. Liliana also got a blanket to cover her, she's really thoughtful.

"Ah, okay, just one should be alright..."

She smiles and pours the red liquid into the cup

"Here"

She gives to me and lifts her cup

"A toast for the lifes we saved today and to the destruction of the Khaos Brigade, fufufufu"

We cling our cups

I take a sip, it's sweet and not too strong, she must have picked it knowing that I'm not good with alcohol

"It's good!"

She smiles

"I'm glad you liked it, it should be fine even for someone who is not good with drinking like you"

I thank her and we continue eating, untill she calls my name

"Tatseyo..."

I look at her

"What is it?"

She fidgets a bit before asking

"Did I... did we managed to change your opinion about devils?"

I look at her confused

"Eh? What do you mean?"

She seems a bit sad now and looks out of the window, the night sky is clean, the lights of the city are also dazzling, the moon is shining and it illuminates Liliana, making her silver-white hair seem like it's glowing, I can't help but notice how beautiful she is.

"I knew you didn't liked devils. Even after Azazel and I explained things to you, I didn't expect you to fall in love with us so easily, hell, untill a month ago your daily routine was to hunt us down, so I don't blame you. But I hope that after this night I could at least make you see us under a new light"

So that's why she was sad? You're wrong Liliana, I don't think like that anymore!

"You changed everything..."

"Huh?"

She asks

"You changed everything Liliana! I don't think devils are evil or disgusting anymore, everything you did tonight was amazing. The way you all fought, the way you talked about your goals and how you cared about and saved those hostages. The entire time I could see how worried you were about them, I could see the anger in your eyes and hear it in your voice when that monster said what he planned to do, there is no way I can think that someone like you is evil. Even if you are a devil, there is no way I can think like that anymore"

Liliana looks at me with a surprised face

"Tatseyo..."

Then she gives a teasing laugh

"Fufufu, if you talk like that with such a serious face I might fall for you"

Agh, even after I said such a serious thing she's still teasing me!

"Hahaha, p-please d-don't tease me like that, I just got fired up because it isn't like you said at all"

I'm blushing like crazy! But I give a sarcastic answer because I want to look cool

"Still... I'm glad you are on our side now"

She looks to me with such gentle and loving eyes that make my heart skip a beat again, I'm not used to being looked directly like that, even other espers are afraid of me because of my appearance, my powers and family.

"Liliana-san, aren't you scared of me?"

I decide to ask her directly. At school, only the ORC and the Student Council aren't scared of me, I already think I know the reason though

I'm expecting from Liliana an answer like: 'Please, I already faced monsters and beings way scarier than you, there's no way a pair of creepy eyes and a condescending smile can throw me off', but I'm asking just to confirm it

"There's no way I can be scared of you Tatseyo..."

I get ready to hear the answer that was on my mind, but she keeps going

"...Even before meeting you, I already thought you were a good person, now that I know you, I am sure that you are. I don't know why anybody would be scared of you, but I never will be"

Her answer is definitely not what I expected!

Uwaaahh! Liliana-san! At this rate I'm the one who's going to fall for you!

"Actually... when you were making that serious face talking to Aya and even to me right now, I think my heart skipped a beat you, know? I wonder why, fufufufu"

Please no more! It's my heart that's going crazy right now! I'm seriously thinking about proposing to you!

"Ye-yeah, th-thank you, it's just..."

"I wanna have dinner with master too!"

I feel something clinging to my arm, Aya-chan! Are you awake already?

"M-master?"

Did she called me master?

"Ara ara, Aya-chan, how are you feeling?"

Aya answers filled with energy

"I'm feeling much better, I wanna thank Galard-san for healing me"

Liliana and I smile, she is such a good girl!

"I'm sure you'll get the chance. But Galard has already gone back home, speaking of which, I think it's time for you to go as well, isn't it?"

Aya looks confused

"But... I thought I would be staying in here"

Liliana shakes her head

"No, this casino is no place for you to live, we discussed and decided that you would be better taken care of by Tatseyo"

Wait, me?!

"H-hold on Liliana, she's going to live with me? Are you sure?"

"Why not? You're living on your own, right? So it won't be a problem, also, I don't think our house is a place Aya would be able to live comfortably"

Liliana told me she lives somewhere in this town with her servants, she is a high class devil so she must have business that a girl like Aya shouldn't be close to.

"And I spend most of my day in the casino, this is no place for a child, Aya should go to school if she's going to live in here in Japan, what do you say Aya-chan, would you like to live with Tatseyo and go to the same school?"

Liliana asks while looking at her, Aya looks down and thinks for a while before answering

"Uhhm, I would like to... but if it's a hassle for master then..."

She looks so sad while saying this! Her magatama ears are down! It's not fair! If you talk like that while calling me 'master' I won't be able to refuse!

"No, not at all Aya-chan, I think my house has space for another person, I also don't think it would be a problem if you were to attend Kuoh academy with me"

Rias and the other devils are in control of the school, they are good, if I explain Aya-chan's situation to them I'm sure they will let her stay

"Really?"

I nod

"Really, Kuoh is a good town and Kuoh academy is a nice school that accepts supernatural beings, I think we can make you feel at home in there"

"Thank you, master!"

She says this while smiling, just seeing this girl smile already makes it worth it.

...But she really should stop calling me master... people might misuderstand it.

"Great! Then it's settled, I'll make the preparations for you to go back, just one more thing"

Liliana turns back and goes to one of the closets and takes a luggage out of it

"Here Aya-chan, this is for you"

She hands the suitcase to Aya

"What is in it?"

I ask

"Clothing, she'll need it, though there's not a lot so you might wanna go shopping later"

Oh that's right, I don't have any girl's clothes in my house so that would make it hard for her in the first few days.

"Thank you, onee-san!"

Aya says bowing her head

"I'll leave her to your care then, Tatseyo"

This is a weird situation, but I think there's no better option

"Okay, I'll do my best"

She smiles

"Will I see you tomorrow too?"

I nod

"You count on it"

"Fufufu, see you then, Tatseyo, Aya, goodnight"

""Goodnight""

We both say as we are teleported back to my house

 **Part 3**

"Uaaah! I loved this house, master Tatseyo!"

Aya says with her eyes sparkling, she has been looking around the two store house that my parents rented to me since she arrived

"It's not that big, but I think two people can live in just fine."

She makes a confused face

"You live alone?"

I nod

"Yeah, my parents live in another town"

She looks a bit gloomy

"It must be lonely..."

I kinda like the feeling of independency, but I can't say this to a girl who just lost her parents!

I put my hand on her shoulder

"Not actually, you're here now right?"

She blushes, but nods firmly

"Right!"

I smile, she's really cute

"Tomorrow I'll go talk to the administration of Kuoh academy so you can enroll there. But for now I'll go to the bedroom and unpack your stuff, you can look around the house a bit more if you want."

It's really late right now, so we better go to bed right away

"Y-yes, thank you"

She says this and I walk upstairs to my bedroom

It's when I start putting her clothes in my closet that I remember...

There's only one bedroom in here... and one bed.

Oh shit! That can't be good, does that mean I'll share the same bed with her?

No, there's no way. Even if she's younger than me she's still a girl around my age, sleeping together would be unnaceptable!

Yes, yes, I'm sure I have a sleeping mat somewhere here, I'll sleep on the ground and she'll sleep in the bed, that'll do it

Breathing out in relieve, I start to organize the last of her clothes, untill I find something that makes me gulp

... Liliana also gave panties and bras to her

CLANK!

I close the suitcase immediately after seeing them.

Fuck , I should know that there would be things like that here! Aya is a girl after all, wait, how did Liliana knew her bra size?

No, no, no! I'm thinking about the wrong things!

What am I supposed to do? Should I leave them in the suitcase? But then it would seem suspicious. Should I put them in the closet? No, then she would definitely knew I saw them!

Ah, what do I do?

I slap my hand against my forehead trying to think of something...

Ah, I'll just leave it here.

I put some other clothes on top of her underwear so it will seem like I didn't saw it, sorry Aya-chan, I already organized most of her clothes in the closet so there's not much left for her to do.

But leaving this aside, Liliana is really thoughtful, all the clothes are really cute and I think they'll fit perfectly into Aya, she even gave her a towel! I'll put this one on the bathroom

I walk down the hallway and I open the bathroom door

Ara, that's weird, did I left the lights on?

I take a step towards the place where I store the towels, but I see something that makes me freeze in the spot

"M-Master..."

An embarassed voice calls my name

"A-Aya-chan?!"

Aya-chan is completely naked in front of me! She is trying to hide her private parts with her hands! Was she going to take a shower?

She has a nice body for a girl her age... uah! What the fuck am I thinking about?!

I quickly close the door

"Sorry Aya-chan! I didn't know you were there!"

I'm so fucking dumb! I should have guessed she was in there, I should have at least knocked first! But that means she didn't took clothes or a towel?

"I-it's okay, master, I'm sorry for my reaction, did you... wanted to join me?"

WHAT?!

"No! I just wanted to hand you a towel, that's all!"

I open the door slightly so I can pass the towel to her

"Here"

I feel a soft pull on the other side as it leaves my hand

"Thank you, I forgot about it"

"O-okay... I'll be waiting for you to finish. I'll also bring your new clothes"

"T-thanks master..."

* * *

Aaaah! What kind of situation was that?!

I'm laying on my bed thinking about what just happened

Did Aya-chan got mad at me? Wait, she asked if I wanted to join her?

Oh no, maybe she did that because she thought I was a pervert and wouldn't give her a choice? Maybe I scared her?

Crap, with this face of mine I have to be even more careful to not scare people and then this happens!

Living with a girl is going to be harder than I thought!

The door opens and Aya walks in, she's wearing the pajamas that Liliana bought to her

She is silent, I knew it! I ruined her mood!

"Aya-chan..."

She looks at me

"Yes, master?"

I kneel in front of her

"I'm sorry! I really didn't want to walk on you on the shower, I was just going to put the towel in there, I thought I had forgoten the lights on and I didn't heard any water so I thought..."

I feel a gentle tap on the back of my head

When I look up, Aya is on her knees before me and caressing my hair

"It's okay master"

"Re-really? I thought you would hate me for that"

She smiles

"I got scared when you came in all of sudden, but I know you are a good person, don't worry, I know you didn't mean it"

I feel a burden lifted from my shoulders, Aya-chan is such a good girl!

"Thank goodness, I was worried that you were mad at me"

I look at the bed trying to change the subject

"H-hey look, I did the bed for you"

Aya looks at it with a puzzled expression

"You'll sleep on the floor? But this is your house..."

I shake my head

"Doesn't matter, I wouldn't be comfortable if I made girl sleep on the floor, also this mat is quite comfortale so I won't have problem sleeping, don't worry."

She nods

"If you say so... thank you"

I remember something

"Oh, Aya-chan, have you ever attented school?"

Liliana gave me a form to fill out so Aya could enroll at Kuoh academy with me

Aya-chan shakes her head

"No, I had all my lessons in the temple"

I see, she's very much like me then

"Ah, would you like to attend Kuoh academy with me?"

Her eyes sparkle

"Really? I'll attend a school? With friends, teachers and things like that?"

I grin at her cute reaction, she seems really excited to go to school, her curly tail is even wiggling, so cute!

"Yeah, I just have to fill this form so I can deliver it to school tomorrow, if it goes smoothly you'll be able to attend Kuoh by next week, I think"

"So let's do it! Let's do it now!"

She sits on the bed and I sit next to her, everything goes normal, until...

"Uhm..."

"What is it master?"

I must have a complicated expression right now

"It's about who'll be responsible for you"

I give one of the sheets to her

"Here, look"

One of the requirements to fill in is who'll be responsible for you, Liliana already filled it with her name, since it must be someone of legal age and I'm 17

But for some reason, Liliana registered me as some sort of guardian!

"So onee-chan and master are my family now!"

She says clinging to my arm

"I don't think that's right Aya-chan, it only means that I take care of you when Liliana is not around"

Aya makes a confused expression

"That's kinda the same thing isn't it?"

I try to argue, but give up, no matter how you look we are basically relatives now, I'll take care of her, we'll go to the same school and we even live in the same house now!

"Well... yeah, I guess it is"

I think it's a weird situation but she seems happy with it.

"It's all done, I'll go take a shower now, you can sleep if you want"

"Alright, good night master"

Before leaving the room I look at her and ask

"Aya-chan, you don't have to call me master, you know?"

It's weird to be addressed like that, but Aya makes a confused expression

"But you are my master, aren't you?"

I scratch my head with a troubled expression, Koma Inus are fiercely loyal to their masters and some even suffer from depression if they have no one to serve, but I don't want to have that type of relationship with her

"Well, it's okay if you wanna think of me like that, but to me you are a friend, so there's no problem if you just call me by the first name, alright?"

She nods her head and answers with a smile

"Yes, thank you, Tatseyo-san"

I smile back as I turn off the lights

"Goodnight, Aya-chan"

I close the door and go to the bathroom, when I go back, Aya is peacefully sleeping on my bed.

I caress her hair before laying at the mat on the floor.

Aya-chan...

This girl that went through a lot, I'll definitely protect her, I'll definitely make her stronger and I will, with absolute certain, give the payback to the Khaos Brigade.

You just wait and see.

 **Afterword:** So, what do you thought of this new character? One thing I never understood, not only in DxD, but in manga as a general, is why dog youkais are so unused compared to cat youkais. Japan has many amazing dog youkais like Inugami, Hainu, Koma Inu and others, but the anime community is so attached to the nekomatas that they don't seem very appreciated, so I decided to make use of them in my story.


	27. Analysis

**Part 1**

"Good morning, Aya-chan"

"Good morning mas- Tatseyo-san!"

I smile at Aya-chan's reaction, guess it will take a while untill she can address me normally by the name

"I'm making breakfast, want some?"

I ask showing her the rice and toasts I've prepared

"Yes! Thank you"

Aya-chan steps into the kitchen, pulling one of the chairs to sit down

"Today I'm going to take the papers to the administration and talk about your situation with Rias-senpai"

"Who is Rias?"

Aya asks as she takes a bite on a toast

"She and Sona Sitri-kaichou are kinda like the 'leaders' of the school, to everyone else they are just students, but just like Liliana-san, they are actually pure devils with their own teams. Kuoh academy was founded by their families and they are the ' _de facto_ ' shot-callers in there, if you are going to enroll, their permission is more important than the administration's"

Aya stops eating and looks at me with eyes filled with unease

"Wow, they sound important... do you think they'll let me in?"

Seeing the nervous expression on her face, I reach my hand to hers and hold it

"Don't worry, they are nice people"

She looks surprised at my sudden action, but returns the gesture and squeezes my hand back

"Thank you... Tatseyo-san"

I let her hand go and we continue eating, I've been thinking about taking Aya-chan directly to them so she could explain her story to Sona and Rias, after all, everyone in their peerages seems to have a sad story somehow, so I think they would have sympathy to her and be unable to refuse. But I decided against it, having Aya-chan talk in front of strangers about everything she's been through seems like a very cruel thing to do

"Is it good?"

I ask Aya-chan and she nods while swallowing her rice

"So good! It's mild and bland, just like the food that father cooked!"

I feel a rock falling on my head at the energetic, cheerful and at the same time offensive words of the little youkai girl

"I-I see... well, as long as you like it..."

She doesn't seem to have said it sarcastically as she takes another bite with a happy expression on her face, so my food tastes like shrine food, huh?

We continue having breakfast, I take this opportunity to explain to Aya-chan what I am.

"Esper?"

She asks and I nod

"Yes, you see, we..."

I explain to her about me, my family and our powers as well as what we do, Aya becomes impressed by our duty

After finishing it, I get ready to go to school and say goodbye to Aya before leaving

"Tatseyo-san! Wait!"

"Huh? What is it?"

Aya comes to me in a hurry with a box wrapped in a sheet

"You forgot your lunch!"

"Ah, thanks"

With all of these things happening around me I almost forgot to take my lunch box with me

I take it from Aya-chan, but I notice that it's different from the one I usually carry, the bundle is more neatly arranged and it seems to be heavier than usual

"Did you do something to it? "

I ask while analyzing the pretty arrangement wrapping the box

Aya-chan nods

"Y-yes, I wanted to do something for you too so I cooked some more food and wrapped it again, I hope you don't mind"

"Not all, thank you"

I say as I pet her head, Aya smiles and her tail wiggles, she seems to really enjoy when I do this, does it have something to do with her being a dog youkai?

"Alright, I'll see you in a few hours then, you stay here and protect the house, okay? If anything happens, you have my phone number"

As a Koma Inu, I think she'll be comfortable guarding the house, it's not like I'll be away for long anyway, but just to make sure I've left my cellphone number with her and of course the house still has seals on it, Aya is a youkai that guards sacred places, so she's not affected by it.

"Goodbye, Tatseyo-san!"

She waves me goodbye and I walk out of the door, there's something incredibly refreshing about having a cute girl seeing you off! I didn't even payed attention to the stares and comments I receive from the other students that I meet on the way to school!

The first thing I do after arriving at Kuoh Academy is look for Rias and her servants, they usually walk together, well, it's not like they are hard to find anyway...

"""'"Ohhhh"""""

Said and done, not much longer after thinking about it, the expressions of awe from the students tell me exactly where to find that waving crimson hair and the entourage of devils that follows behind it.

"Rias-senpai, everyone, good morning!"

I greet the ORC members, the first time I saw them it was only Kiba, Issei and Rias walking together, but now it seems that they are all here. Do they all live in the same street or something?

"Kageyama-kun, good morning"

The red-haired girl greets me and her servants look at me with curiosity on their eyes, probably wondering why I approached them

I can also hear faint voices from afar

(Eh? What is Kageyama doing with Rias-senpai, Akeno-san and the others?)

I twitch my eyebrows in anger, here we go again...

(Does he have a problem with her?)

(I heard he already had a beef with Xenovia, maybe he's going after the members of the ORC?)

What?! Did the rumour spread this far already?

(Oh no! Well, I wouldn't mind if Hyoudou got hurt though...)

What's up with that!?

I give a sigh and ask her quickly before more rumours are born from this situation

"I need to talk to you and Sona-kaichou about a serious thing that happened yesterday, it has to do with the Khaos Brigade, can I meet you at the Student Council on lunchtime?"

Rias and her servants expressions change to a serious one upon hearing Khaos Brigade's name

"Did something bad happened to Liliana-san and the others?"

I shake my head

"No, but I'm going to need your help to untangle a problem they've caused, but it's a bit complicated, so I'll explain everything there"

Rias tilts her head in confusion, but nods afterwards

"Understood, we'll be waiting there then"

"Thanks, see you later"

I wave goodbye to the ORC members and go to classroom

After this, I meet with my trio of friends, sit down and class goes on as normal, when lunchtime arrives however, I say that I will not be able to eat with them.

"Eh? Why not?"

Kanae asks surprised

I bow my head slightly

"Sorry, but I really need to talk with Sona-kaichou in the student council, there is something I need to solve with the school"

The trio wides their eyes and Koji approaches me

"Ta-Tatseyo... did something happened?"

Koji asks with a concerned voice

Eizo then approaches and takes one of my hands

"What have you done?!"

Kanae rushes too and takes my other hand

"If you are in trouble you can tell us!"

All the students that are still in the room are looking at us, what are you guys doing!

"I haven't done anything! It's just that... damnit, come over here!"

I sign for them to follow me and we walk out of the classroom, after we are out of ear range I say in a low voice

"Look, a relative of mine is coming to Kuoh Academy, so I have to sort things out for her, that's why I need to speak with Sona-kaichou, that's all!"

After I explain it to them, the concerned looks on their faces turns to curiosity

"Eh? You have a relative around your age, Tatseyo?"

"Who is it?"

I scratch the back of my head, I ended up saying that Aya-chan is my relative, well, that was the original plan anyway

"She is a... cousin, third degree stuff, you know?"

I made it all up on the spot, there's no way I can say she's directly related to me, no one would buy it

"She? you mean it's a girl?!"

Kanae says in a stunned expression

"Yeah, she's living with me now and..."

I try to keep talking, but they seem absorbed in their own thoughts

"Tatseyo's girl relative... scary..."

"Will it be one of those deliquent looking girls?"

"If she looks like him it will be a problem..."

I'm right here you know!

"Shut up! She doesn't look like me at all, you guys are going to like her"

I slap my hand against my face

"Oh, so that means she's cute?"

Eizo asks

I spread my fingers on the hand covering my face and leave only my eyes staring directly at him

"What did you said?"

He jumps back at the very moment I look at him, noticing the big mistake he did

"N-not that I would hit on her or anything... she's your relative after all... hehehe"

"Anyway..."

I say turning my back to leave

"Please don't tell anyone about it, I don't want any rumours going around about her before she even arrives"

"O-okay! We won't tell anyone, good luck with Sona-kaichou"

Kanae says and I wave them goodbye

"Thanks, see ya"

I depart from my friends towards the Student Council room

When I arrive, Rias, Akeno, Issei, Kiba, Xenovia, Asia, Irina, Hanakai, Sona and Shinra were waiting for me inside the neatly arranged room

"Huh? The others didn't came?"

Sona nods her head

"They couldn't be here, but we'll pass the information to them, so..."

She moves her hand towards a chair in the room as a sign for me to sit down

"What you wanted to talk to us?"

"Well, it's complicated, let me start from the beginning"

I explain the things that happened the other night, about the stray demon, the youkais he had kidnapped and Aya's current situation, at the end of it, all of them have surprised and angered expressions

"Those assholes..."

"To think they would do something like this..."

The reactions I get from them after explaining what happened are all the same I had, disgust with the Khaos Brigade.

"That's why I'm keeping guard of Aya-chan for now and I think she would be safer if she attends the same school as me."

Rias nods

"I understand, if she has been targeted by the Khaos Brigade, then this is a good place to hide her"

"Yes, I'll deliver this form to the school's administration so she can start attending"

Sona then reaches her hand out

"Give it to me"

"Uhm? But I have to..."

"Leave it to me, if you want, Aya can start to attend school right away"

Wow, so fast!

"Re-really? Thank you very much!"

Rias smiles

"You're welcome, but in exchange would you mind introducing us to Aya-chan?"

"Are you curious about her Buchou?"

Akeno-san asks

"Yes, I've already read about Koma Inus before but I've never seem one personally, I really would like to see one"

"I'm curious too, when I worked at the church I never got the chance to meet one"

Even Xenovia seems to be looking forward to meeting her, hey, Aya-chan it seems you are already popular even though you never even went to school.

"Koma Inus are protectors of sacred places after all, as devils, it's difficult to have contact with them..."

Sona says this, makes sense, just like they have good relations with espers and exorcists, they must have a bad relationship with devils.

"I see, but that won't be a problem, Aya-chan doesn't care about things like that... actually, I wonder if you all could help her in getting used to school? She never attented one before, so I'm afraid she might have problem adjusting to it"

Sona and Rias nod their heads

"Don't worry, we in the Student Council will do our best to help her get by"

"The ORC will also help, so be at ease"

I breath relieved

"Ah, thank you very much, I've never taken care of anyone in my entire life so I'm worried about what can happen to her"

"Don't worry, we'll do our best to help her"

Issei answers me.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to introduce Aya-chan to all of you"

The people in the ORC and SC are really nice, I feel bad about the way I acted with them when we first met.

The food that Aya-chan prepared was great, she really has a way with cooking. I wonder if it would be too much if I asked her to cook for us

The rest of the day goes by as usual, except for the casual questions I get from my trio of friends about Aya-chan, frankly, I really hope they don't talk about this with anyone...

 **Part 2**

"Aya-chan, I'm home"

I say as I open the door

...

But I don't hear anything

Did something happen?

"Aya-chan?"

I'm starting to get worried, but suddenly a loud yell makes me jump

"You picked the wrong house, fool!"

"What the hell?!"

The green haired girl comes out by suprise swinging a broom at me, I put my arms forward in a position to defend myself

"Aya, it's me! Chill, chill!"

Her eyes wide in surprise and she drops the broom on the floor

"Ah, Tatseyo-san? I'm sorry!"

"What was that for?"

I ask pointing at the broom with my heart still jumping at the sudden scare, Aya puts her hands together in an apologetic gesture

"I'm so sorry! I'm not used to be on guard duty so I was nervous when I heard the door opening and I jumped at you right away, sorry!"

Aya-chan is still a child, so it's no surprise that the protection of whatever temple she lived in wasn't trusted to her

I pat her shoulder

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry for putting such a burden on you, but don't worry so much okay? I don't think somebody will try to break in, but I'm glad you were trying to protect the house"

She nods and smiles at me then picks up the broom again

"Look, look, I cleaned the house up"

Aya-chan walks with me around the house, she cleaned it really well! I'm impressed, it looks like it was done by a professional

"Woah, you really did great Aya-chan but you know you didn't had to"

She shakes her head

"It's alright, I'm a freeloader at this house and I wouldn't feel well if I didn't contributed at least this much, I'm used to cleaning at the temple, so this is nothing for me"

Compared to cleaning a temple, this house sure must be easy, still this is a very good job.

"You did great Aya-chan, thanks"

I pet her head and she looks really happy

"Liliana-ane was here earlier, she said we should head there as soon as possible"

"Oh, okay... wait, she was here? In this house?"

Aya nods

"Yes, she said there was something she needed to do, we installed it in the basement"

I'm really confused right now, what could they have installed in my house and what did she meant by "basement"? But before anything else...

"Did you took the seals off?"

Liliana shouldn't be able to walk inside my house with the seals I've put at it, she's a devil after all, but Aya answers with a "no"

"The workers that were with her weren't able to come in, so I told Liliana-ane about the seals, she asked me to take her to where they were and deactivated then herself"

She deactivated my seals herself?! She shouldn't be able to get close to my house, much less walk in and remove them! And what did she meant by "workers"?

"H-how did she do it?"

"I don't know, she shouldn't be able to do it since she's a devil, but there's more important things right now! Here, let's go to the basement!"

Aya-chan grabs my hand and starts pulling me

"But there's no basement in here, you meant the attic?"

This house has an attic that can be accesed through the corridor, but to my surprise Aya-chan shook her head

"No, Liliana-ane also brought a few men with her to build it, she said something this important should be hidden from other people"

I stay quiet for a moment trying to imagine what Liliana could possibly have instaled in my house. But before I can ask Aya, she extends her hand

"Come, we should get there now"

We walk towards my bedroom and Aya touches one of the shelves summoning a magic circle that spins untill a metalic sound can be heard, the shelf moves and reveals a secret passage.

"What the..."

Aya-chan signs for me to follow her

"Come with me"

When we walk in, Aya summons another magic circle and spins it again

"These circles are made to recognize only my magic and Tatseyo-san's aura, unless you have the code, you can't enter without being trapped"

What the fuck? What Liliana did to my house?

"I-I get it..."

I follow her untill we reach a steel door, Aya presses a button and it opens revealing an elevator, when we get in I see only two buttons with symbols I don't recognize.

"Are these demonic symbols?"

She nods

"This button means up, it's where we are, the other means down, it's where we are going"

As we start to go down I can feel demonic energy and magic trace increasing, with that I finally decide to ask

"Where are we going?"

She smiles and answers

"To the basement"

"No, I mean, what's in there?"

She thinks for a while before answering

"Hummm, there is a lot of stuff, Liliana-ane said it would be needed for our work, I think it's easier if you see it for yourself"

I nod, this doesn't make sense at all, how the fuck Liliana built this thing in less than a day?!

"O-okay"

The trip downwards takes almost a minute, she wasn't kidding about it being hidden

When the elevator stops she declares

"Ah, we arrived!"

The doors open and I walk out

"What the..."

I declare astonished, the place we arrived is a big room filled with bookshelves, tables, chairs, a couch and even a big and fancy office desk with a computer on top of it, like in the occult research club, there are several pentagrams in the walls that give off demonic energy

"Did you liked it? Liliana-ane said you would like, I loved it!"

Aya declares energeticaly, I answer while still in shock

"Ye-yes, I guess... but what is all of this?"

I say as I grab one of the books, it's written in the demonic alphabet, which I don't understand at all

"Liliana-ane said we would need it to work with them, there are many books and documents we'll need to read to work with the underworld. But leave it aside for now, come here, I helped with this one!"

Aya-chan takes me to a big pentagram at the end of the room, it has the Caim's symbol on it

"Liliana-ane said this is a teleportation circle. We can use it to go from our house to her base"

Uhm, I see, it's weird, but I can understand the praticality of it. It's not like I can keep using leaflets or Mayumi to teleport there forever.

"Nice, so how does it work?"

Aya puts herself in the middle of the circle and starts making equations appear on her hand

"It's really easy, I've never used teleportation magic before, but Liliana-ane and Mayumi-san showed me"

Aya is a Koma Inu after all, they are talented in Senjutsu, Yojutsu and other types magic, even if she's too young to use her full potential, it's not a surprise that she can do this.

"That's impressive Aya-chan, good job!"

I say petting her head, she seems to really like this

"Thank you, I'm doing my best"

Then she walks into the circle

"Give me your hand"

"Uhm?"

I give my hand to Aya and she grabs it, a few symbols appear on my palm as the pentagram starts glowing

"There, I've registered you in the circle, now we can make the jump together"

"Ah, I get it"

So it required registration? Magic is a weird thing

"Let's go now"

"Wait, right now?"

I still wanted to explore more this new room that Liliana built for us, but Aya-chan pouts

"Yes, right now! Liliana-ane will be mad if we are late!"

I give up and get in the circle with Aya

"Okay, so how does it work?"

Aya-chan answers with a smile

"It's easy, like this"

She extends her hand and a circle with several equations appears on her palm, we are surrounded by light for a moment

...

And just like that, we arrive in the same room in Liliana's casino

"Tatseyo! Aya! You came right on time!"

Energic as always, she's wearing another type of dress, white just like the other one and as usual, she has her jewelry on, ever since I met Liliana, there hasn't been a single time that I have saw her without these jewels, I know she's a high-class girl, but does she never takes them off?

"Liliana-ane!"

Aya happily greets Liliana and hugs her

"Hi Liliana, good to see you again"

"Tatseyo!"

"-!"

After hugging Aya, Liliana comes to me and hugs me too!

I can feel her breasts rubbing against my chest and since she's only a bit shorter, her hair is almost directly on my nose, it smells fantastic!

"It's so good to see you two!" - She says, I feel awkward, so I do what I think I should do and hug her back

I can feel her skin in the palm of my hand, this was a bad decission! Liliana is incredibly soft!

"Uhm... Tatseyo..."

Liliana says with an embarassed expression

"You are being a bit rough..."

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

I immediately pull my hands away from her, were I really holding her so tight?

But she starts laughing right after it

"Fufufu, just kidding!"

Liliana says with an impish smile

"Your embarassed face is so cute! Fufufu"

She was teasing me! I knew it!

"D-don't tease me like that!"

Liliana starts laughing again walking over her desk

"Sorry, sorry, fufufufu. So, what did you think of the renovations we made?"

She's talking about the new room

"Yeah, it was quite a surprise, you said we gonna need it to work with you?"

Liliana nods

"Yes, I wasn't sure about how much you know regarding our world, but after we talked I saw you know fairly little, so I brought to you those books, also, do you know the demonic alphabet?"

I shake my head

"Never got interested on learning it"

My job was just to kill demons, learning their alphabet was not necessary to it, so I never thought I would learn it one day. There are however, espers who know about it and some that even wrote books about it.

"I see, well it can't be like this then, aside from your training you'll have classes with me as well"

"I can help too!"

Aya says

Well, I'm used to study about the other world, at least this seems to be simple

"Alright, thanks you two"

But there's another thing I meant to ask

"Uhm, Liliana..."

"What is it?"

"What kind of training will we be doing?"

Liliana smiles

"Ah, I've been thinking about this Tatseyo, tell me, have you ever trained in your entire life?"

I shake my head awkwardly

"No, I mean, there were times when they did tests to measure my abilities, it happened like twice a year and they said it was increasingly steadily as I grew up, so it's been a while since I've taken one."

She nods

"And the unknown percentage, have you reached it?"

I freeze at the mention of those words, so she even knows about that

"No, father said he achieved it in times of great peril when 100% wasn't enough, but I was never caught in such a situation, there was once a conversation about deliberately putting me into a life or death situation, but father and mother denied it, they said it was too dangerous"

"The unknown percentage surely sounds scary..."

Aya-chan says and all I can do is nod

The plan was to use either Kuriko's or Saitama sensei's power to bring out the ?%, but it was deemed too dangerous, since it's almost certain that it would be even worse than father's

Liliana throws me a curious glance

"Has Kageyama-san mastered it?"

I think for a while before answering, he never said to me that he mastered it, but he did said something about it

"Well, I don't know, he said he made a... compromise with it"

She furrows her eyebrows at my words

"A compromise?"

I nod

"Yeah, he told me it didn't bothered him anymore, but I've never seen him use it again though"

Liliana thinks for a while

"Well, I don't think a compromisse with your powers is what you would need, it might be useful, but we need you to master it."

Master it?

"Are you going to throw me into some sort of dangerous 'life or death' situation so I can achieve it?"

I say it half-jokingly, but I'm sincerely worried that Liliana will answer with a yes

"No, of course not"

I breath out in relieve

"Eh, what was with that breath of relieve you just gave? You thought that I would do something like that? You think I'm some kind of monster?"

Liliana has a pouty face and hands on her hips, she's kinda cute even when mad...

I shake my head

"No, no, I'm sorry it's just that I didn't know what you would do so I got worried for a second, but I totally trust you"

Hearing my words she smirks

"Good... also, who do you think you are attempting to master the unknown percentage when you didn't even mastered the 100%?"

"Eh?!"

I yell out in surprise, so she knows even that? Right now I depend on my emotions to use 100% of my power, I must be feeling something really strong to unleash everything I have, in the fight with Gremory and Sitri I was consumed by anger so I went all out.

Liliana smiles

"Yes, I know. Before you even think about mastering the unknown percentage you must first control your 100% without relying on strong emotions anymore"

I sigh

"To think that you know so much about me... that's kinda creepy you know?"

Liliana just smirks and says

"Hehe, most boys would be happy if a girl showed so much interest on them"

This is not "interest"! It's like you are my stalker!

"I don't think this is that kind of situation..."

Ignoring my words Liliana talks with a pondering expression

"But you know... I don't know everything about you, in fact, there's a vital piece that I can't find anywhere"

I sigh and ask

"What is it?"

I expected some sort of teasing out of her, but the thing she asks throws me off and makes me unsure of how to answer

"Your skill, I can't find information about it anywhere"

Taken by surprise, I look at the floor in silence, so that's it...

"H-hey, Tatseyo? What happened?"

"Tatseyo-san? Is something the matter?"

I lift my head and answer looking away from Liliana and Aya

"I-I... I don't have a skill, I've tried to find it for a long time, but I couldn't find it, so I probably don't have one"

Liliana looks completely taken by surprise and Aya makes a confused expression

"What is a skill?"

Aya asks

"Oh, that's right, I didn't explain it to you, did I? Well, most espers have some sort of [skill], an irregular power that is particular to one esper or, in rare cases, to a bloodline. With father, it's the ability to absorb other people's emotions, with mom, is the ability to manipulate another's person's chi in order to bind them with their own life force."

(Author's note: I'm not making this up, in MP 100 and OPM these are real powers that only Mob and Tatsumaki have, all I did was create the [Skill] label)

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Aya says in a happy voice

I then scratch my head

"Yes, but... I don't have any exclusive skill."

Telekinesis, ergokinesis, clairsentience, hiding my presence, exorcism, curse laying and removal, astral projection, aura detection and manipulation, these are all powers that I have and can take to extreme levels, but these are also powers that you can find in many other espers around the world, even if it's on a much lower level. I don't have any [skill] that hasn't been found on anyone else.

Liliana seems at a loss of words over what I said

"Re-really?"

She asks astonished

"I am... sorry, I thought that you would have one at least similiar to Kageyama-san... are you really sure you don't have one?"

I shake my head

"Sorry to disapoint you, but me, my parents and teachers have been looking for it ever since I was a kid and we had no luck on that..."

I take a pause and look out of the window, I really don't like to talk about it...

Aya-chan looks at me with a concerned expression

"But is that so important? You are powerful already, I don't think Tatseyo-san needs a skill"

At her words I remember the words of Ayumu and that instructor, and a smile comes to my face along with a sigh

"You are right, Aya-chan, it never made any difference to me, I'm powerful, so what I have is more than enough"

I pet her head ans she seem happy again

"Hehe, Tatseyo-san is good as he is"

Liliana also gives a gentle smile to me, but a determined look suddenly errupts on her face soon after

"That's it, I've decided! We're going to find your skill!"

Eh? What?

"Liliana, were you even listening to me? I've been trying to find it with the help of experts for years! What do you think will change now?"

Liliana takes a step towards me and declares

"Simply, before then you didn't had me, huhuhu!"

I feel my face getting red, what's up with her?

"And what are you gonna do? A miracle or something?"

She then grabs mine and Aya's hand and starts pulling me out of the room

"No matter what, I'll help you find your skill! Right, Aya-chan?"

Aya looks confused, but soon understands the situation and gives a confident smile

"Yes!"

Liliana then turns her head and smiles at me

"Okay?"

The only thing I do is give a meek nod

"Y-yeah..."

"So let's go!"

We keep following Liliana, we take an elevator and arrive at a lab-like facility

"Where are we?"

"This is Manaki's lab, where usually conduct our researches"

So there is a facility like that here, I assume their researches must be about ESP

"And you brought us here to see if you can find my skill?"

Liliana gives a small jump forward as the automatic doors open

"Yup! Now come"

We go right behind her not only because she's leading the way, but also to not get lost, seriously, this facility is huge! There are even some equipments that I have never seen before

"Wow, what is that?"

Aya asks pointing at a complex looking machine

"I have no idea..."

I ask as I try to make sense of what that machine could possibly be for

"Please don't touch anything"

A monotone voice brings me out of my trance, a girl with long blue hair and a pair of red eyes behind her glasses said this, by her side is a tall woman with white hair and toned body.

"W-we weren't going to"

"Sorry then, some of these equipments are not to be handled by novices"

She says without averting her gaze from the screen, Manaki Ishida, Liliana's [Knight] is a stoic girl who seems to be wearing a steel mask devoid of expressions

"Manaki-chan, Diz-chan!"

Liliana greets both of her servants as if they were her school friends

"Eh, Liliana-sama? What are you, that boy and Aya doing here?"

Diz points at us

"I didn't expect to see you and Kageyama here"

Manaki keeps typing on the computer

"I know, it's just that I wanted you to use your psychometry on Tatseyo so we could find something about him"

Manaki can absorb information about things at the mere touch, so that's what Liliana was planning!

"Right, about this..."

Manaki says as she reaches for a drawer and pulls a file out of it

"I already did"

"W-what?!"

I stare at the file in her hand

"When did you do it?"

Despite my nervousness, Liliana remains calm and hits her palm with one of her hands

"Oh! It was when you first met, right?"

Manaki nods at her affirmation

[I'm Manaki Ishida, you are the son of Lady Tatsumaki and Kageyama-san, right? I'm looking forward to work with you]

"That time when she shook my hand?"

I ask confused and Manaki gives a meek nod

"Correct, I took that opportunity to analyze you"

Analyze me? What the hell?

"You did that at the very beginning? Why?!"

I'm shocked, surprised and a little angry, it feels like she deceived me somehow

But Manaki simply tilts her head as if she doesn't get what I'm talking about

"Did I do something wrong? I assumed that Liliana-sama would want me to do it and I simply decided to speed up the process"

It's like she doesn't really understand what's the problem here!

"Ha! That's just like our Manaki!"

The amazon girl declares, that's not funny!

Watching the scene, Liliana sighs and puts a hand over my shoulder, speaking directly in my ear

(Sorry Tatseyo, Manaki is kinda bad with understanding things like this, she's very loyal to me, but sometimes she goes a bit overboard, could you please forgive her?)

She says with an apologizing look, ah whatever, it's not like any damage was done anyway

"Alright, just ask my permission before you do something like that again, okay?"

Manaki still has a interrogation on her head but nods

"Understood"

At least she agreed, even though I don't think she realized what the problem was...

"So Manaki-chan, what is it that you've found?"

The blue haired girl starts reading the file

"I actually obtained a good amount of intel, but unfortunately, Kageyama-kun is so impressive that something blocked me before I could find out what his skill was."

The same that happened to Kuriko happened with her...

"Eh? Really? What do you mean by blocking?" - Liliana asks intrigued

Manaki looks pensative for a while before answering

"If I had to describe, then it would be something like a firewall in human form, it blocked me from going further, but I don't know what it was."

"Hey, Manaki, are you sure that something really blocked you? Maybe I just don't have a skill at all?"

At my question, both Manaki and Diz look surprised

"What do you mean by that? You do have a skill, right?"

The white haired girl asks and I shake my head embarassed

"N-no, I actually never found my skill, I don't think I have one"

"N-no skill? But, you are the son of Tatsumaki and Kageyama, how come you don't have one?"

She looks very confused at what I said

"It's true that this is intriguing, but many espers around the world don't have a skill and can live fine with that, but I don't think that's the case here, do you, Manaki?"

Liliana asks and the glasses girl shakes her head

"I made no mistakes, when I analyzed Kageyama-kun I managed to get almost every information I usually get, look for yourself"

She hands to me the file and I start looking through it

"Y-you managed to see al of this?"

Height and weight calculated down to the last digit, a summary about my powers, hair and eye colours, blood type and shoe size, it's everything here! Almost like a criminal record!

"Yes, aside from psychological aspects and things like memories or thoughts, I can basically know everything about a person by touching them"

That's a bit more limited than Kuriko, since she can also access your memories if she touches you, I didn't think about that at the time, but did Kuriko read my memories when she touched me? Ah, guess it's too late for that now...

"But I can't tell if you have a skill or not because, just like I said, there was something blocking me"

Manaki seems unusually pushy now, does she get offended when people doubt her?

"I believe in you, Manaki-chan, actually, Kuriko told me the same thing when I asked her to do it"

"Oh, you mean Kuriko Saiki?"

"So you know her too?"

It takes me by surprise because Kuriko is not the type to have friends

"Well, a bit, I'm more familiar with her parents though, Kuriko usually doesn't talk to me very much"

"I see, well that's just like her though, sorry about that"

Kuriko won't even talk to a High-class devil, how proud is that girl?

"No worries, her parents are nice people, so I get along with them"

Well it's true that they are different from Kuriko, guess they wouldn't have problem talking to a devil

"Who is Kuriko?"

Aya-chan asks

"Oh, she's the daughter of another powerful esper couple, I asked her to do a reading to check if she could see my [skill] with her psychometry, but she also couldn't see because of the same thing Manaki is telling us"

"Oh, I see..."

I feel a bit bad for Aya-chan, she had to learn a ton of things today, I'm sorry Aya-chan, hang in there and try to learn everything

"But, that's a good thing, right? That means you can have a skill, but it could be hiden by this 'firewall' that Manaki just told us"

Diz says while reading the file along with me

Liliana brigthens up and exclamates

"That's right! Tatseyo's skill must be dormant somewhere, all we gotta do is find it!"

"And how do you plan to do that?"

Liliana raises her fist with confidence

"I don't know!"

*CLASH*

We all fall backwards at her declaration

"How the hell you don't know!?"

She sticks her tongue out and says

"Well, we gotta start from somewhere, how about we start here?"

I look quizzically at her as she turns to Manaki

"You were about to do Diz-chan's checkup, right?"

"Checkup?"

Manaki is the one to answer

"I understand"

I don't understand what this words mean, but Diz-chan seems mad

"Eeeeeh!? Why do I have to do my checkup with him?!"

I don't know why she seems so upset, it's just a checkup, what's the matter on doing it with me? Does she dislike me that much?

Manaki merely adjusts her glasses before talking

"As Tatseyo's first checkup, it would be good for him to see how yours is made, after all Diz-chan, you are my greatest experiment"

She says while emotionessly giving a thumbs up, but there's a certain glow in her eyes...

"Don't say it like I'm you Frankstein! Idiot!"

Liliana interrupts them

"Sorry Diz, but I think Manaki is right, it's also good for Tatseyo to learn more about our team"

Diz still looks displeased but gives in

"Tsk, fine"

Liliana celebrates

"Yay, good luck you three! Aya-chan you come with me, I'll teach you a bit about magic and demonic powers as well"

"Ye-yes! Thank you Liliana-ane!"

Ah, that's a pity, I wanted to learn more about magic and the sort as well, maybe in another opportunity then...

Before parting ways, Liliana whispers in my ear

(Try not to get too excited, I don't think Manaki would care, but Diz-chan... be careful ok? Fufufufufu)

"W-what?"

She leaves before I can ask her anything about what she just said, why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Part 3

What's up with this situation?

"If you try to peep, I'll kill you..."

"I won't!"

A thin curtain currently separates me and Diz, Liliana's [Rook], she doesn't seem too fond of me but that wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't...

"Hurry up Diz-chan! The sooner you get your clothes off the sooner we can start!"

If it wasn't for the fact that she's undressing behind the curtain!

I can hear Manaki talking to Diz at the other side

"Hey, stop! Don't pull my shirt!"

"You're taking too long so I'm helping you out, don't struggle"

"As if! I'm taking this long because you took that damn idiot with us! Also, couldn't you have used another curtain?"

The curtain separating us is the type that still lets you see the silhouete behind it, I'm trying not to comment on it, but this just makes the situation even more embarassing!

"Why are you covering yourself? It's not like he can see you"

"It's almost as bad!"

Suddenly Manaki pops her head out from the curtains

"It's ready, come and see it"

"What? Why do I have to watch it?"

"Stop whining, just come"

She grabs my arm and pulls me to the other side of the curtain

"Wait, wait isn't Diz-chan nake..."

I go to the other side but Diz is wearing a hospital gown

"Did you really thought she would be naked? Pervert..."

""Shut up!""

Me and Diz say at the same time

"Okay, Diz-chan, let's start your check-up"

I expect Manaki to use some sort of tool on Diz but she simply touches Diz-chan's cheek and strokes it for a very uncomfortable moment

"All right, you seem to be fine, but I'm still running the visual procedure, go to the machine"

"Okay..."

Diz-says as she stands up and goes inside a heavy looking piece of machinery

"Couldn't you do this sort of check with your power?"

I ask and Manaki sighs

"I'm not perfect, so even my analisys could leave a few things uncheked, specially regarding something as complex as a living body, so to be 100% sure, I use this machine made with demonic technology, it's precision is far better than human machines"

I see, well it does ressemble a medical facility equipment, if it wasn't for the weird design and creepy symbols carved into it

"Hey you two! Are you going to keep talking or are you going to run this checkup already?"

Diz-chan says it from inside the machine

"Sorry Diz-chan, come with me Tatseyo"

She walks over to a computer and the machine Diz is inside starts lighting up, in the screen it appears Diz-chan's brain, bone structure, muscles, veins, all sorts of scans

"Diz-chan needs to keep her body in top shape and I make sure of it"

Diz relies a lot on strength so it's a given that she needs to be on the best condition as possible.

"Will I have to do this as well?"

"You only need it this time, we'll do it again if something new occurs, but currently, Diz is the only one who needs this checkups on a routine"

"Is it really necessary do this on a routine?"

Manaki adjusts her glasses and answers without looking away from the screen

"Diz is an intensification type, the stronger she is, the stronger she can powerup. So in order to bring out her full potential, we made some modifications on her"

That doesn't sound so good...

"Modifications?"

She nods

"Muscles, bones, respiratory system, circulatory sistem, there isn't a single point on Diz-chan's sexy body that does not have my brand on it!"

She declares proudly, I don't think she knows how wrong what she just said sounds...

"Stop talking about my body like that!"

Diz shouts at us from inside the machine, I'm so sorry...

"Eh, alright... so she's like a cyborg?"

"Tsk, don't compare my work with simple technology implants, Diz' body is 100% her own, you would be amazed at what magic and demon tech can do"

Guess I would be, even so this is weird...

"Well, everything seems fine with you, Diz-chan. It's your turn now Tatseyo"

"Okay, I'm supposed to go inside the same machine?"

Manaki nods

"Yes, please go inside"

I change clothes, lay on the machine and the lights inside it shine

"Alright, I'm going to scan your body and brain right now, so I'll make a few questions to see how your brain responds to them"

Manaki says to me

"A-alright"

After a brief pause she asks

"Is your name Tatseyo Kageyama?"

A simple, standard question

"Yes"

"What planet are we in?"

"Earth"

"Are we in January?"

"No"

"Good"

I hear Manaki's voice and after a brief pause she continues

"Are you an esper?"

"Yes"

"Are your parents Shigeo Kageyama and Tatsumaki?"

"Yes"

"Do you have a girlfriend or sexual partner?"

"N-"

...

WHAT?!

"What the hell are you asking?"

I yell at her, what is this now?!

"Hahahaha! That's clearly a 'no'! Hahaha!"

I hear Diz' laughter, what the hell are you laughing about, you giantess?

"Do you have feelings for Liliana-sama?"

"Stop with this stupid questions!"

Did they asked me to get into this machine just so they could interrogate me?

"Huh, inconclusive..."

"Heh, so he's one of those indecisive guys?"

"Are you stupid? Of course it's inconclusive! I barely know her!"

There's no way I can have feelings for someone I know for such a short time!

"Huh... so let me try this way..."

Manaki cleans her throat before making the question

"Do you see Liliana-sama in a sexual way?"

Wah?

"It'll definitely light up, he's totally a pervert!"

Damnit, this is bad! I had enough!

"Let me go!"

I push myself out of the machine and run towards both of them

"Aww, he got out before I could get the result..."

"Does it make any difference? Getting out of the machine was like pleading guilty!"

Even when I get out they are still talking about it!

"What's the big idea? I thought you were going to examine me, was this all a prank?"

I slam my hand against the desk as I say this

"Oh, c'mon, you gotta admit it was funny"

Diz says with a big grin on her face

"The hell it was!"

"What's the problem, afraid we were going to see you are a pervert?"

She says while stroking her white disheveled hair

"I'm not a pervert! Who do you think I am, you giantess?"

The grin on her face disappears and anger takes over

"Oi, what the fuck did you called me?"

The mood in the room starts to get filled with animosity, but then a hand holding a sheet gets between us

"Stop that you two, if you wanna fight then you can do it in your training, just don't do it here"

Manaki says this while handing me the sheet

"Eh? Is this the training regimen?"

She nods her head

"Yeah, the machine helped me analyze you more thoroughly and this was what I arrived at, it isn't much different from what I had originally planned though"

So this wasn't a complete prank?

"Diz-chan, if you are so jumpy to fight against him why don't you take him to the training grounds and be the first one to train him?"

"Eeeh? Why do I have to train him?"

Diz says with a disapointed expression, it's not like I'm dieying to have you as a coach either!

"Kageyama-kun's greatest weak spot is his lack of natural physical abilities, which is exactly your strong point, Liliana-sama wants us to make him stronger, are you saying you won't follow her wish?"

Diz groans and looks at me

"Alright, just don't expect me to be easy on you! Go change your clothes!"

After I put my clothes back on, Diz grabs me by the arm and starts dragging me out of the lab

"Wait, where are we going?"

"To the training grounds of course!"

As we distance ourselves I hear Manaki's voice

"Good luck, Kageyama-kun, try not do die"

What kind of farewell is that?!


	28. First training

**Part 1**

"Alright, let's begin!"

Diz declares, she's now wearing a zip-up tracksuit and sneakers similar to the ones she was wearing when we rescued Aya, which makes me think this is her "battle suit"

"So this is a training dimension?"

The place where we were teleported to is a big space with lots of greenery and mountains around, but Diz said that it's totally artificial, designed for the type of training we are about to have

Speaking of it...

"What is the kind of training we are about to have?"

Diz brought me to this place but didn't exactly told me what we were going to do, in Manaki's training regimen, the top priority was "physical training", I can understand that because my natural body is nothing out of the ordinary if it wasn't for my psychic abilities

"Heh, you about to see"

Diz says as she puts on leather gloves and a black mask that resembles one of those Cenobite creatures from "Hellraiser", the one with the mouth forced open and the teeth and gums in plain sight, was it "The Chatterer"?

"You have a mask too?"

I ask and she zips it up

"Yup, Liliana-sama made it specifically for me, we only use it in Rating Games and official events though, it's kinda of a symbol, but sometimes I train with it so I can get more used to it"

I see, so their masks have a meaning of their own

She then stands on a fighting position

"Yosh! Our first training will be a melee brawl! Come at me but only with physical attacks!"

"Eh? You wanna fight already?"

I wasn't really expecting a fight right in the first day of training, but Diz makes an annoyed expression

"I can't tell how good you are if I don't fight with you! In psychic power you might be better than me with your telekinesis and whatnot, but if it's toe-to-toe then I'm confident I can beat you!"

She declares while clutching her fists and throwing a punch in the air

Wait, I can't use my psychic powers?

"Are you trying to kill me? If I don't use my powers there's no way I'll last against you!"

I say to her and she facepalms and answers me

"I'm not saying you can't use your powers, dumbass! You can use your psychic abilities to boost your speed and strength as much as you want, but no telekinesis, aura beams or explosions, I also won't use my own energy manipulation, so it's going to be fair, got it?"

I answer with an 'oh' and look at my own hand

So she's saying we are going to see who is better at boosting it's own physical skills with their psychic abilities, huh? Well, this is going to be interesting, like she said, I might have more power than her, but in a melee combat she's no doubt more suited and experienced

I get in my own fighting stance and answer her

"I see, if it's that, then you better not hold back!"

She smiles with confidence at my words

"That's the spirit, now get ready, I'm going to kick your ass!"

A dense amount of aura envelops her body and almost a moment later

VOOSH

Diz disappears! Fast! Even though she's a [Rook], she's very fast!

But that won't be enough to catch me by surprise

"To my right!"

I declare as I raise my arms and block an incoming punch from her

 **DOOOM**

The air and ground shake at the impact of her attack

"Heh, so you noticed me? Not bad"

I smirk

"You are fast, but your presence gives you away"

"I see, then how about this? "

While still mid-air, Diz throws a kick at me

"Bad decision!"

I grab her foot and spin her around, finally darting her against the ground

"The one who made a bad decision..."

She says as she regains her balance in the middle of the impact route and kicks the ground with an absurd strength that makes it shatter

"Was you!"

She shoves her hands on the ground and pushes it sending them fly towards me

"How do you deal with this?"

I easily dodge the debris that Diz sent towards me, but then a huge stone charges towards me, Diz is behind it!

I throw a punch to try and destroy the rock, but an impact comes from the solid stone and hits my face

"Ugh!"

She used the rock so I wouldn't know how she was going to attack!

"Got you!"

The force makes me fly backwards and land on my knees

"Shit..."

I wipe the blood coming from my mouth and stand up

"Hey, compared to the Seikiryuutei and the Valkyrie, where does my punch rank?"

Diz asks while approaching me

"Not bad at all, that armour of his would have a tough time figthing you, the Valkyrie is not even worth comparing"

It's an honest praise, even if I'm not using 100%, this woman is very strong and she's not even using her energy manipulation

"But don't underestimate me!"

 **CRACK!**

I use the same trick and kick the floor making the stones rise

"You gonna fight fire with fire?"

She asks with an instance ready to attack

"That's what you think!"

I sink my legs even further into the ground and jump at her at a speed that was further increased by using the floor

Diz couldn't catch up with the speed and I hit her straight in the stomach

"Guaah!"

She spats blood and I prepare a second attack while her guard is low but-

"What?"

In the middle of my attack, in the momentanous pause between one attack and the other, she grabbed my arm and hitted me with her elbow!

"Go away!"

She then throws me a punch with her free hand and I'm forced backwards

"Not bad, your punch is very good too"

She says to me

"Thanks, but you were able to counter me in the middle of my attack, your resistance is amazing too"

"Of course, I'm Liliana-sama's [Rook] after all"

She says like it's nothing, but it's impressive, to be able to counter an attack even while you are spatting blood from your mouth, Liliana's servants are indeed impressive

"What are you waiting for? I'm running cold here!"

She declares to me in a taunting manner

"You're gonna see!"

I jump ahead of her and we start exchanging blows, we hit ourselves on the face, chest, legs and even grap each other

"Hah, Hah, you are pretty good for a brat who never trained"

Diz says picking up her breath, her clothes are torn and that mask is covered in blood, surprisingly enough, her mask and clothes only have minor damage, guess they must have been enhanced somehow

"Hah, hah, you aren't half bad either"

I'm worst for wear, Diz is extremely strong and there are times when I was caught off guard by her intense attacks

But I'm actually happy, this is my first time training with someone, it makes me feel good that there are no lifes at stake and we are just measuring each other's strength

"Hey, how about we take this to the next level?"

She asks and I nod my head

"Sure, what you got on your mind?"

She answers in a defiying manner

"Use your 100%"

"Come again?"

I ask nervous and she replies with confidence

"Let's fight seriously now, I want you to use your 100% and all of your powers, throw me around, explode me, do whatever you can to beat me, of course I'll be doing the same as well."

I was thinking about that before, but this woman is crazy! She really wants me to use my full power against her!

"Are you looking down on me? You know that I can easily destroy a town on my 100% state, right? I can't even guarantee the stability of this dimension if I use it"

She shakes her head and steadies her stance

"I know full well how dangerous your 100% state is, that's why I want to try it first hand, don't worry about this dimension, even if it's destroyed it'll rebuild itself, or is it something else? Maybe you think I can't take it?"

I honestly think that she has no chance, Diz is indeed very powerful and could even give a powerful devil a run for his money, but I just can't see she defeating me.

"Well, I could say that I won't do it, but that wouldn't stop you, would it? I can see that you are hellbent on testing me"

"Yeah, I wouldn't let you go even if you wanted to, but who do you think you are fooling, huh? You also have a smile on your face all along"

I only then realize that I was indeed smiling during all of this, this training, it's a different feeling than that of fighting, somehow it feels kinda good actually...

"Heh, looks like I was, but to use my full power I have to be feeling something pretty strong you know, I can't just summon it out."

"Eh? You are not feeling like it yet? Do I have to punch you to get you to fight me at your fullest?"

I shake my head

"No, actually I'm starting to feel something right now"

Yes, I've been having this feeling ever since we got into this fight,

This feeling, I wonder if that's what Ayumu feels when she's training too...

I think I can release it now

"Hey Diz, don't hold a grudge against me if you end up in the hospital, alright?"

"Heh, same to you!"

Alright, let's go!

[100%]

My whole aura is unleashed through the field

"W-wow, it's the first time I'm actually seeing this, amazing"

Diz says with a bewildered voice

"Now that's it out, I just won't hold it back!"

"That's it! Come a-"

Before she can finish her sentence, I'm already by her side summoning a sphere of energy

"Bang!"

I say as the light of the explosion envelops her and destroys everything in it's path untill it finally explodes several meters away from where she was

"Don't blame me, I told it wouldn't be easy"

For a moment I think that maybe I went too far, but soon a shadow appears in front of me and lays a strong punch at my face

"Ugh!"

The pain sticks to me and the impact pushes me backwards, buy this time I'm able to land on my feet and even though I can feel my face is hot where she hit me, I'm still not bleeding

"Amazing, when you use your energy manipulation your punches become much stronger! My entire body shook just now!"

This is a league above Issei's punch, I could even say it was stronger than Durandal's aura attacks

"I told you to... uff, not underestimate me"

Diz is covered in bruises and blood, yet she's still standing with a firm battle stance

"I actually put quite some power in that attack, think you can take more?"

She laughs it off and spits her blood on the ground, the mask is now cut in several places and I can see parts of her pretty face

"Of course! Don't you dare..."

She leaps through the ground leaving cracks created by the force where she steps

"Go easy on me!"

A burst of aura flies towards me and I destroy it with my own

[Blast]

I create an explosion sending Diz backwards but instead of flying away, she pushes her heels against the ground and forces herself to charge at me again

I create an wall of explosions

"I won't stop!"

She yells and kicks the ground, the shockwave makes all the rocks fly upwards and she lifts her hand making them fly towards me, so her ability also allows her to use a certain level of telekinesis?

"This won't work!"

I use my telekinesis to destroy the stones before they reach me but Diz again uses her shockwaves in the air to create an impact that sends me backwards

"H-hey Diz, don't you think we should stop now?"

Unlike in my fight against Rias Gremory and her servants, this time I'm actually going for a swift defeat right at the beginning, I'm putting all the strength I have in my attacks, Diz is already covered in bruises and blood, her clothes are so torn that I'm almost seeing a few embarassing spots of her body, but she's unfazed by it and keeps attacking me like a mad-woman

"Shut up and fight!"

She charges at me and I use my telekinesis to push her away, but instead of crashing through the floor

[Shock Wave]

She uses her powers to move the ground around her, making the earth create a huge wall that together with her own ESP energy, stops her from going further

"Charge!"

She shouts and uses the earth beneath her to keep charging towards me, I create aura attacks and explosions but Diz returns it with her own attacks.

When she finally manages to get close to me, I use my telekinesis to push her away, I want to avoid a fist fight as much as I can, her psychic ability to create shockwaves can cause pain through my body even when it hits my barier, such a frightening woman!

But the more I use, the more it seems like it's not working, like she's getting used to it and is able to push closer and recover faster from my attacks

While in battle, I find something out that makes me step back in confusion

I see that several wounds I had inflicted upon her are no longer there

"You are... a healer?"

She smirks while taking advantage of my distraction to charge a shockwave that breaks my balance

"Took you long enough to notice!"

She finally lays her hands on me and throws a punch

I defend from it with my arm but the pain still hits me

"I won't let you go!"

She grabs my shoulders with both her hands and headbuts me

"Ouch!"

I yell in pain, but this time time I grab her arm and throw a punch at her that sends her backwards and create several explosions to harm and distract her

"So you like it in long range? Alright, I can do that too!"

Diz also projects her waves through the air and ground as long range attacks and I have to use my aura to disrupt them

I lift several rocks off the ground and throw then at her, the rocks cover her entire body

"Uaaaaaah!"

Diz yells and a powerful shockwave destroys the stones to pebles, but this is enough for me!

I make the pebles reconstruct at an incredible speed towards her, even if they are small, they'll definitely hurt if they hit her at high speed!

But her protection proves flawless as her aura destroys them after they strike her

"Is that all you got- GUAH!"

The rocks were an distraction I used to get close to her and throw a direct kick at her stomach

"You fell for it!"

I use my telekinesis to pull her close to me again and throw another punch charged with explosive energy

 **BAAAAAM**

The explosion shakes the surroundings and Diz is throw around and lands on the ground, this time she doesn't move

"H-hey Diz? Are you alright?"

I approach her and she's laying on a crater on the ground with her arm covering her face, but she seems happy

"Kukukukuku, this was awesome..."

She's laughing with barely any energy on her voice

"Do you need help with getting up?"

She sits up, takes her mask off and looks at me

"No, I can deal with this myse- ugh!"

She tries to stand up but falls on her butt

"Don't push yourself, here let me help"

"You don't have to"

"Yes, I have, that's my fault after all"

I support Diz with my shoulder and we walk towards the shade of a tree

I help her sit with her back supported by the trunk

"So, you ran out of energy?"

I ask her

"Yeah, kinda pushed my body too hard"

"Sorry about that, I'm gonna give you a bit of my energy so you can heal yourself again"

I put my hands together and transfer some of my aura into her, since she's an esper, it should work no problem

Afterwards, Diz clutches her fist and a white aura envelops her body as her wounds start to close

She sneers

"Impressive, thanks for this, but don't say 'I am sorry' to me, you did exactly what I asked, I'm really glad I got to fight with you, Kageyama family's espers sure are something else"

Diz happily says as she gazes into the sky

"Thanks, but you did pretty good too, there are not many people who could put up a fight like me in my 100% like you did, you really are very strong"

I say as I hand to her a bottle of water, part of the supplies she brought when we arrived

"Guess we both did well then" - She says taking a gulp from the bottle, her voice seems much soother than before, is she really that happy she fought with me?

"So... you are a healer too?"

I wasn't expecting two healers on the same team, after all, in RPG's and things like that, all teams usually just have one healer, like in Rias-senpai's case

She shakes her head

"I'm not like Galard if that's what you are thinking and I'm also not like you. I can't create healing energy like him and my telekinesis isn't as great as yours, but my skill [Shock Wave] also allows me to create healing waves that heal the others around me and myself, but it's a pain in the ass, so Galard is the main healer of our team"

Healing waves... I heard about that once, Diz' power is to manipulate and create waves, this is the first time I meet someone like this

"Why is it a pain the ass?"

I ask as I drink from another water bottle

"My waves have different functions, I can use them to manipulate things like you with telekinesis, to destroy stuff and also to heal others, but it's gotta be the right frequency and controlling it is difficult, so I decided to focus on destructive power since I'm a [Rook] anyway. Also, unlike Galard, anyone in the range of my healing waves will be healed if they are hit by it, including the enemy, so it's dangerous to use it in a very wide area"

Healers can redirect their healing aura however they like, so it's nearly impossible for an enemy to be healed accidentaly, but if it's waves, then they might heal the enemy if it reaches them

"I see, it's quite amazing though, you and Galard break the image people have of healers as the weak guys who stay on the rearguard"

Diz laughs at my commentary

"Hahaha, you are right, Liliana-sama won't take anyone weak into her peerage, so a healer that's only good for healing wouldn't please her"

Makes sense, Asia is actually a great example, if you take away her healing skill, then she quickly becomes useless, she can't fight by herself and any attack slightly above human level will knock her out in no time. Asia is like most healers, even in the esper world there are the support types who are no good at fighting.

"You too need to improve yourself, you know?"

I throw a question mark at her

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

She puts the bottle down and massages her own shoulder

"Well, putting it bluntly, you are too predictable"

"You mean you can see through my movements?"

She makes a troubled expression

"Not exactly that, but you always use the same three main attacks: Explosion, aura and telekinesis, you also only have 6 attacks if you exclude your physical ones"

She only got me more confused

"Six attacks? What do you mean?"

She lifts six fingers and starts counting them

"Your explosion is a pretty handy attack, you can create them anywhere at anytime so it's good to take someone by surprise, but if you use it constantly it gets repetitive and I started predicting when you would use"

She then puts one finger down

"Regarding your aura attacks, you only have two types: Aura shots that you use to destroy at mid and long range and aura liberation that you use more for defensive purposes"

Two fingers down

"And then there's your telekinesis, it's very powerful, I could barely defend against it, but you only have three attacks with it, you either throw the opponent around, throw things at him or reflect the attacks combining it with your energy manipulation. You also have the power to reconstruct matter that I saw when you were regenerating, but you rarely used that to attack me"

Then her hand returns to normal and she looks at me

"You used some pretty clever strategies when we were figthing, but I think you could do so much more if you tried developing new techniques"

I'm beyond impressed at what she told me, she saw through my battle style so easily

"That's amazing, you reached that conclusion with just one fight?"

She scratches the back of her head

"Heh, it wasn't much, really"

"You must have gone through a lot of fights to be able to see through someone like that, I never realized my figthing style was so predictable"

It's true that I rely a lot on strength to beat my enemies, so strategy and tecnique are something I never thought much about, as I'm thinking about that I look at Diz who seems to be a bit sad

"Fights... yes, I went through a lot of fights..."

She says looking at her own hand

"Are you alright, Diz-chan?"

"Ye-yeah! I'm alright!"

She says snapping back to reality

"Anyway, I can't do much about technique, I'm a muscle head myself, but if there's one thing I can help you is in building physical strength and teaching you hand-to-hand combat"

"Hand to hand combat... I never trained that before"

"It was pretty obvious, your punches and kicks have the same level of a child brawl, it's all basic attacks with a lot of strength and you also don't have such a sturdy body as you could have with your level of psychic power, so I'm gonna help you on that"

I never trained martial arts or anything of the sort in my entire life, my punches and kicks are the same as any normal person would give, only boosted to absurd levels of power by my esper abilities. Diz is also right regarding my physical abilities, if an attack can break through my defence then I'll receive great damage, like her shockwave showed me

"Thanks Diz-chan I really appreciate it, sorry if I insulted you before"

Now I feel bad for calling her a 'giantess'

"Don't worry, I'm also sorry for calling you a pervert"

We stay quiet for a while, untill Diz seems to have remembered something

"That's right! Hey, Kageyama-kun..."

"Tatseyo"

"Huh?"

Diz asks in confusion, this is actually the first time she has called me by my name instead of "boy", so I feel like I'm getting closer to her

"You can call me Tatseyo, I've been calling you Diz all along so you can call me by my first name too, even though I don't actually know your last name..."

Diz is a very strange sounding name, but well, so does Rias and Rossweisse, I assumed that it's because she's a foreigner

"Oh, it's because... Diz is not actually my true name, Liliana-sama gave me that when I joined her"

"Really? Why?"

Just like the situation with Koneko? Is she wanted somehow?

Diz has a bitter expression when answering, like she's having not so pleasant memories

"I left the country and the tribe I lived when I decided to follow Liliana-sama, because of that I had to forsake my name as well..."

So I was right, she is foreigner, but she lived in a tribe?

"I'm sorry to hear that, did they do something bad to you?"

She shakes her head

"No, I just... didn't belong there anymore"

It's a very vague answer, but I don't think pushing her will do any good

"I see, w-well, what you were going to ask me anyway?"

"Ah, right, that!"

She cleans her throat returning to the past subject

"What were you feeling when figthing me?"

Diz then looks up

"You have to be feeling something strong to go 100%, right?"

Oh, yeah, I never told her that

I then smile and look at the sky, even if it's an artificial dimension, it feels very real, but just like Diz said, the destruction we created has already rebuilt

"Happiness"

I then look at Diz, who has a surprised expression on her face

"Hahahaha, were you you so pissed at me that you couldn't wait to punch me?"

I smile at her

"Hahaha, that's not it. The thing is that I was really happy when fighting you, Diz-chan, it was my first time doing it and I was pissed off at first, but when we got into it, I realized I was becoming fond of it. It was very fun to have my first training with you, you were amazing too"

Diz face becomes beet red at my answer and she answers with a tone of voice I've never heard out of her

"W-w-what do you mean by that? F-f-f-first time? I knew it! Pervert! Deliquent Casanova! Yakuza Don Juan! Is Liliana-sama not enough for you?"

Diz stands up and starts mangling away from me all the way calling me things like that

"W-what? What did I do? Wait, are you really okay to be walking like this?"

I ask as I look at the way she's walking, but Diz turns to me wit her face still red

"Don't come closer to me! I'm going back now!"

She says as a magic circle envelops her

"Diz, wait! I need you-"

"Don't say you need me, you idiot!"

She goes away in the light of the magic circle leaving me talking to myself

"To go back..."

I have no idea how to get out of this training dimension! Diz took me here by herself so I don't know how to make a portal to get out!

"Why the hell did she act that way? Ahhh, how the fuck do I get outta here now?"

I start looking around trying to find an exit, but there are no doors in here. Well, if I wait, then they'll notice I'm still here, but how long is that gonna take? Maybe if I destroy this dimension? But it regenerates, right? And even if I destroy it enough to be able to escape, wouldn't that cause trouble?

"What should I do..."

Just as I said that, the world around me is enveloped in darkness and a sweet voice calls my name

"Tatseyo, guess who~"

I clearly recognize the gentle voice that just called me

"...Mayumi?"

"Ding! You guessed right!~"

The hands covering my eyes withdraw and I turn around to see the purple haired girl with a smile on her face

"I came here to check on your training with Diz-chan, did you already finished?"

I nod my head and scratch my cheek

"Ye-yeah, but something happened and she kinda left me here with no idea of how to come back"

Mayumi tilts her head with a confused face and giggles

"Ara ara, well, that's Diz-chan for you..."

She then looks around and turns to me again

"Well, since we are here would you like to train with me too?"

I step back in surprise

"You mean figthing with you?"

I'm not really in the mood to fight again, specially with a girl such as Mayumi, but she just giggles and waves her hand

"No, no, I mean training on your technique, Manaki-chan also said that you need to improve it, right?"

"So you also received the report?"

She nods her head

"Diz-chan sure can help you improve in your battle skills, but you also need to improve and create new techniques, that is my speciality"

During the fight against that stray demon, Mayumi showed a frightening ability to control air and gases, she's probably one of the best to teach me on how to use my technique

"A-alright then, so where do we begin?"

Mayumi points to an area filled with trees

"Shall we go there?"

We walk towards the location and she takes a deep breath

"Ah, even if it's an artificial dimension the air here is so clean!"

"For someone who is an aerokinetic like you the air must be pretty important"

She puts a hand under her chin and answers

"Thank you, but you know, I'm actually not aerokinetic"

"Eh, you're not?"

Considering her skill and the way she controlled the air, I assumed that she was aerokinetic, but she puts her hand forward

"I'm actually a telekinetic just like you"

She says and lifts a few pebles and leafs on the ground up in the air

"W-wait? So you are telekinetic? Then why do you use aerokinesis?"

Mayumi gently starts motioning her hand and the wind around the small stones and leafs starts to dance, making them dance along with it

"My telekinesis is nowhere near you, Kageyama-san or Lady Tatsumaki in power, so in order to become more battle ready, I created this technique combining telekinesis with elemental magic, [Wild Wind]"

She declares and the wind starts to motion in a circular maner like a... like a tornado!

CRACK CRACK

Soon, the stones and leafs are reduced to nothing at pressure of her attack

But Mayumi turns to me with a gentle smile

"This attack reminded you of something?"

I nod

"Mom's signature move, that rendered her the nickname "Tornado of Terror", only with aerokinesis instead of telekinesis"

Mayumi looks pleased

"Yes! I'm also a fan of Lady Tatsumaki myself, you know?"

"Ye-yeah, this is pretty impressive, but your technique is also a great fit with your skill"

She nods her head

"Huhuhu, so you noticed it, yes, my skill [In the Air Tonight] allows to manipulate the concentration of gas present in the air"

A frightening skill, one wrong move with this girl can easily cost your life, she also is a telepath, a teleporter and by what it seems, excels in demonic power, yet...

"Huh? Is there something on my face?"

She asks with a confused expression

"N-no, sorry if I was staring"

Yet she seems completely harmless! She's a beauty with a gentle smile, sweet voice and a behaviour that's almost motherly, you would never guess that she's a powerful esper and a devil [Queen] on top of that!

"Fufufu, now, it's true that I built my technique in order to complement my skill, but... I've heard that you don't have a skill, right?"

"Y-yes, I don't have a skill..."

She closes her eyes and claps her hands together

"Well, don't worry, I'm sure that we'll be able to find it"

Mayumi says this with a smile, so she also believes that I have my skill dormant somewhere?

"But I wonder if I should help you after what you did to me..."

Mayumi crosses her arms on her chest with a grumpy look on her face

"W-what? Have I done something to you?"

I can't remember anything I could have done to make Mayumi mad, was it something I said?

"That's not good Tatseyo, you'll never be popular if you can't even find out what you did wrong"

I keep thinking about what I could have done, but I can't remember it

"I-I'm sorry, whatever I did you, I seriously didn't meant"

"Uhm..."

Mayumi looks back at me while pouting before smiling again and poking me in the chest

"Ok, but just because you look cute when you're sad"

Cute... that's surely a word that people usually don't use when they describe me

"Thanks, but what did I do to you?"

"You really don't remember?"

I scratch my face

"So-sorry, I don't"

She sighs and points at me

"My number, you dummy! I gave you my cellphone number and you never called me, not even once!"

"T-that?"

I ask in surprise, I never even thought about that

"Of course! When a girl gives you her number she expects you to call her back, I got offended when you didn't, you know?"

When she talks like that, it does seem obvious, but I was never in this kind of situation before

"Sorry, I kinda... never received the phone number of a girl I knew before, so I didn't know what do to, sorry"

She gives me an impish smile

"Really? You never got a girl's number before?"

"Well, there were times when girls hitted on me, but..."

"Eh? So you are a lady killer? I seriously didn't expected this from you..."

I cross my arms in front of my chest

"Of course not! Those girls only hitted on me because they thought I was a deliquent or something!"

It's a rare event, but there are girls in this world who are attracted by evil-looking guys, and there were times when they hitted on me thinking I was a deliquent, I never knew how to react because I'm not one!

Sincerely, it either scares people or makes they like me based on wrong assumptions...

"Hey, cheer up a little"

I feel a tug on my sleeve that brings me back to reality

"Ah, sorry...

"Don't make that sad face, me, Liliana-sama and I'm sure that are plenty of other people out there that like you without assuming wrong things."

She says that with a scolding look on her face before smilling again

"Were you reading my mind?"

She shrugs

"Maybe, or maybe your feelings were all over your face again?"

So she won't say... telepaths sure are a weird bunch, but I'm actually very happy to hear this from her

"Thank you, Mayumi..."

She then lifts a finger

"But don't think that you are off the hook just yet, I'm going to make you pay for giving me a cold shoulder"

"What? It thought you said you had forgiven me?"

"I did, but you're still going to retribute me, got it?"

I laugh a little, this girl...

"Alright, I'm going to pay you back somehow"

Mayumi gives a broad smile before turning back

"But for now, I think we can already work with what you have, tell me, do you have any techniques that you already worked at?"

Technique... a creative way to use your powers in a strategic manner

"Well, I have my [Reconstruct], I use my telekinesis to rebuild or even build things with it, I can use my energy transfer to power-up other espers as long as they are around me, I can also do something that ressembles clorokinesis if I manipulate the flux of energy from plants and also counter attacks with my energy manipulation and telekinesis... aside from that I can't think of much"

"Oh my, this is bad, such a waste of potential"

Mayumi makes a troubled expression while laying her head on one of her hands

"R-really?"

"Of course, with your abilities I believe you could do so much better, with your energy manipulation and telekinesis I can see endless technique possibilities for you"

She says it with such a happy expression that I can only think of one thing

"I take you already thought of techniques for myself?"

"Ara? Did I made it so obvious? Fufufufu"

I knew it, there was no way she was this happy over nothing

"This time it was you who had it written all over your face"

I say it as a payback for last time but Mayumi just laughs again

"Fufufufu, guess it was, or maybe you have become better at reading me?"

Mayumi throws a suggestive glance that makes me shiver

"E-eh, what?"

"Fufufu, I'm just teasing you"

"You too?"

First Liliana and now she'll keep teasing me too?

"Fufufu, well, it's true that I've been thinking about some techniques that we can develop with your powers, for example, if you can manipulate energy, have you ever thought about controlling the temperature and weather?"

I nod my head

"Yeah, in fact other people have already told me about it, I can absorb and create termic energy manipulate the umity in the air, but using that in fights isn't a good option because I'm not a technique type"

Aside from doing a few tricks, I have never used it in battle

"Well, it's about time someone teach you how to do it, give me your hand"

Mayumi takes my hand and points it forward

"I'm going to help you, first you concentrate and breath in and out"

"O-okay"

I try to forget the fact that Mayumi is very close and holding my hand and try to focus

"That's right, now feel the air around you, the wind, the grass beneath your feet and the sky above our heads

I let my aura envelop me and sense my surroundings while trying to keep my breathing steady

"Try closing your eyes, sometimes our surroundings become feel even more clearer when we just let our other senses do all the work"

I close my eyes for a moment

"Good, now feel the warmth around you, focus on everything that resembles heat and absorb it"

I do exactly as Mayumi says and I gradually start to feel hot, like everything around me has become stuffier and stuffier to the point where I'm starting to sweat

"W-what is this?"

Mayumi, still grabing my hand answers

"I'm helping you to sense the heat around us, it's one of the perks of my air technique. Keep focusing, now open your eyes slowly as you absorb the heat around us and try to make it take shape"

"Understood, any specific shape?"

She shakes her head

"The one that is easiest for you to imagine"

I start to take away the thermic energy that's flowing around us and shape into a ball of concentrated heat, that I envelop in my own aura so it doesn't scorch us

"Nice, you are doing really good!"

Mayumi states while looking at the hot sphere with interest

"But it's getting cold here, isn't it?"

"Of course it is, 293 Kelvin and dropping"

"A thermometer too?"

"You got it"

Why am I not surprised...

"Now, in order not to freeze yourself, you have to direct some of this energy to you, think you can do it?"

"Of course"

I start absorbing the heat in order to not let us freeze in the lowering temperatures I'm causing

"Good, keep this up, soon you might start feeling a-"

 **COUGH COUGH**

After Mayumi says this I start coughing and feel a litle light-headed

"Hey Mayumi, what's happening?"

I ask and she gives a smirk

"Isn't it obvious? You are starting to freeze the components of air itself"

"W-what?"

Despite the absurd I just heard, Mayumi keeps talking with a satisfied expression

"Oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, all the components that make up the air we breath have a freezing point in which they'll turn solid, we are starting to reach that point now"

"Really? So fast? **COUGH COUGH** , what should I do then?"

It's starting to get worse, so that must be it, I never thought about it, but if I take too much thermic energy, obviously the air will freeze as well.

"Don't worry, I'll use my skill to create an atmosphere of our own around us, so don't worry"

Mayumi's skill allows her to create and manipulate the gas concentration, so she can even create a small atmosphere? That's dreadful

"Nice, can you see that? It's the oxygen starting to freeze"

At this point, the ball of thermic energy has already reached a point that it's bigger than me

"Mayumi, I think I have reached the breaking point, anymore than that won't happen"

She nods with a curious glance

"I see, even if you are powerful, reaching the absolute zero is still something you can't do"

Absolute zero? Does she mean zero Kelvin? Isn't that something that should be impossible to be reached?

"Well, how about we let this bad boy loose now?"

She says pointing to the blazing hot sphere

"R-really? Isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't it be better to just return the energy slowly?"

The accumulated heat has made this ball into a bomb, if I let this go, the damage would be enormous

But Mayumi gives a small laugh and shakes her head

"Relax, this is a simulated dimension, you can do as much damage as you want in here, so don't worry and let's see what this can do"

"Okay, if you say so..."

I lift the sphere high in the air and prepare to throw it towards the forest area that now has it's plants completely withered and dead because of the cold

"Wait!"

Mayumi exclamates and I stop before throwing it

"What happened?"

She lifts a finger and says

"The name!"

"What name?"

She then makes a cute angry expression

"The name of the technique! Every technique has to have a name, so how are you going to name this?"

Name my technique?

I look at the huge red ball I have in my hands and start thinking of several names for it, all of them referring the sun

Wait, wasn't [The Sun] a stand in part 3? There was also another stand with heat powers in this part...

I get it! Yes, it's gonna be it!

"Take this! [Magician's Red]!"

The sphere explodes and an enormous amount of heat is liberated at once, creating an explosion that incinerates everything on it's path, I threw it pretty far away from us and I still have my barrier erected, but even so I can feel the heat from here

"Hahaha! That was amazing Tatseyo! So are you going to name that fireball as Magician's Red?

I nod

"Ye-yeah... I kinda came up with it on the spot"

She nods seeing pleased with the name

"Well it does match the type, but what about the ice?"

"Huh?"

"The cold that you create is different from the ball of heat created by it, so how are you going to name it?"

I have to name that too?

"Uh... a technique to freeze everything around me..."

There's only way to name it!

"[White Album], of course!"

I declare proudly, but Mayumi gives a gleeful laugh

"The Beatles album? That's a nice name, fufufu"

Well, she didn't get the references, but I don't think I should explain it to her

"Th-thanks, but doesn't this technique has a too big of a drawback?"

If I freeze the oxygen around me I won't be able to breath while using it, then it doen't make sense!

"Don't worry about this, I'm going to train you so you cam improve your control over the freezing area, also, you can use your telekinesis to manipulate things at atomic level, right?"

I nod

"Yes, I use mostly to fix my wounds"

She smiles

"Then I can teach you to manipulate air as well, it wouldn't be weird if we could create a technique similar to my [skill]"

"Re-really?!"

She gives a smile

"Well, [skills] are an exclusive thing, so I can't say you'll be able to do it as good and as fast I can, but if we work on it enough you should be able to go tn space just fine, huhuhu"

"Space? Are you serious?"

Kuriko once told me that she and her father were able to breath in space, when I heard that I was totally blown away, the only way an esper can go there is by using a barrier to prevent the earth atmosphere from leaving them, but of course it's only temporary, since you'll eventually consume all the oxygen. But if I can manipulate gas, then maybe I can also breath where there's no atmosphere?

"Fufufufu, you seem happy"

"Ah, sorry, it's my first time praticting something like this"

Mayumi throws me an impish smile

"Saying things like "first time" in front of girl, how naughty, fufufu"

"I didn't meant it that way!"

"I'm just messing with you"

She says while putting her tongue out, ah, I wonder if every training session is going to be like this...

"Hey, Tatseyo, can I ask you to show me something as well?"

She throws me a curious glance

"Of course, what is it?"

Mayumi creates a small wind between her hands

"You said you can boost someone's power by lending them your aura, can you do it to me?"

One of the techniques I have is one that father created, by using my ability to lend energy to another esper, I can boost their powers several times, but there's a side effect

"I don't think that's a good idea, when I increae someone's power they tend to go out of control"

The problem is that I can't control how strong you will become, so it's like increasing a strength so suddenyl that you won't be able to keep it in check

But Mayumi gives me a pleading look

"Please~~, I promisse I'll go easy and there is no problem in destroying this place"

That's unfair! I can't deny her when she asks me like this!

"Ah, okay, come here"

"Yay!"

Mayumi happily declares and gets closer to me, this time I am the one who holds her hand

"Wow! I can feel my aura increasing by a lot!"

"Be careful, alright? I can't tell how exactly your power will have increased"

"Don't worry, let's start with something light"

Mayumi puts her hand forward and a small spiral of wind starts forming on it

"Okay, just a warm up attack"

 **VOOOOOSH**

Despite her words, an immense gust of wind leaves Mayumi's hand and sweeps the battlefield, destroying everything on its' path and leaving us both with our hair messed by the wind and with wide dumbfounded eyes

"Eh? What was that?"

She asks looking at her own hand

"What do you mean 'What was that' I told you to hold back!"

I say to her and she answers with a confused look

"B-but I was holding back! That was supposed to be a light attack!"

We look again at the path of destruction caused by that tornado and I sigh

"Sorry, I told you, when I lend my power to another esper the results are... unpredictable"

"Fufufufu, that was fun!"

Mayumi seems very happy despite of what happened

"W-what?"

"It was really fun, also, I was able to unleash one of my most powerful attacks and I'm not tired at all, this skill of yours could be really usefull at an all out battle"

I look at her wordlessly and laugh

"Hahaha! I always thought this technique was dangerous, even my teachers told me that power without control was damaging, that's why I didn't used it, but you can see the good side even on something like this..."

I look at Mayumi, who approaches me with a gentle smile on her face

"All techniques are useful in their own way, there is no technique in this world who doesn't serve a purpose, even the most silly-sounding technique can become dangerous in the right hands..."

Then she throws a bitter glance the floor

"Trust me, I've seen it..."

"Are you okay?"

She then looks at me, smiling again

"Yes, yes, just remember what I told you, okay? I'm gonna train you a lot more from now on, so have more confidence in yourself"

I smile at her and slightly bow my head

"Understood, Kanagawa-sensei"

I say to her in a mocking manner

"Mou, I might be older than you but I'm still young, so don't go calling me 'sensei', fufufu"

We both start laughing, the mood having become light again.

It's hard to believe than a few days before I was head struck into killing devils, now I'm actually able to have such a good time with them

It's all thanks to her... Liliana

When I think about it, it's when I realize how much I and other people owe to her

Someone then flicks my forehead

"Mou, you are thinking about Liliana-sama again!"

"I-I... wait, you were reading my mind again?"

Mayumi continues while ignoring my question

"It's rude to be with a girl while thinking about another one, you know?"

She says while pouting

"I-I am sorry?"

Mayumi sighs

"Ah, you really are helpless, but..."

She then hugs my arm and I can feel her breats pressing up against it!

"I don't hate that about you"

"Ma-Mayumi, you are too close"

"Fufufu, don't worry, I'm going to teach you a few things"

Somehow, I don't think she's talking about training!

"T-things?"

"Yes, everything about how treating a girl right"

She says while holding my arm tighter and looking directly at me with her beautiful purple eyes!

AAAHHH, what am I supposed to do in this situation? Just go with the flow? Right here?

Then, as if saving me from this embarassing situation a magic circle appears

Mayumi gives a sigh and let go off my arm

"Ah, spoilsport, let's continue this another time, okay?"

She says winking at me and answers the magic circle

"Liliana-sama? Yes, we have finished our training with Tatseyo as well... understood"

After hanging up she looks at me

"Liliana-sama and Aya-chan have finished their training, shall we go meet them? I'll also teach you how to come in and out of this dimension"

"Y-yes, let's go"

 **Part 2**

After Mayumi taught me the secret passegeway to get in and out of the training dimension, we left for the same room where we had met Liliana before

"Ah, Tatseyo! Mayumi!"

Liliana happily greets us as she drinks a colorful drink out of a cocktail glass

"Hi, is Aya-chan not here yet?"

There's only me, Liliana and Mayumi here

"Ah, she wanted to be toured around the garden for a while, so I left her and Galard in there for a while, soon they'll be here"

Galard is a clorokinetic, so it's not a suprise that there must be a garden around here, I also would want to see it

I sit by Liliana's side and Mayumi sits at the other one

"So, how was training for the first time in your life?" - Liliana asks while finishing her drink and putting the glass on the table

I laugh a little while massaging my own neck

"Tough, Diz-chan surely didn't hold back and Mayumi is a good teacher"

She shoots a little glance at Mayumi, who has an impish smile

"Fufufu, I'm looking forward to train him even more"

Liliana's golden eyes wide

"Eh? What do you mean? Did she do something to you?!"

Liliana throws her arms around my neck and pushes me towards her big boobs, I can't breathe! But I also don't wanna get out! What kind of feeling is this?

"Fufufu, don't worry, I wouldn't do anything to Tatseyo's inocence"

The silver haired beauty starts stroking my hair while still holding me against her bust

"Mou, I won't give Tatseyo to anyone"

This is good, absurdly good! How can such simple gestures feel so great?

"Th-th-thank you, Li-Liliana..."

I say pushing myself away from her while grasping for air, free from the incredible but smoothering feeling from Liliana's hug

"Thank you for what?"

She asks with a confused expression

"Ah, n-nothing"

I say turning my head to the side to hide my embarassament

"Fufufufufu"

I hear Mayumi's teasing laugh, damnit, she definitely knows what's going on

Liliana then returns to her usual posture

"Well, I'm glad that things went smoothly, I think tomorrow it's Manaki's and Galard's turn, are you okay with training with them?"

I nod

"Of course"

Liliana smiles and says 'that's great then', but then a communication circle again appears in front of Mayumi

"Ah, excuse me, it seems like my presence is requested in the casino's area"

Mayumi bows and teleports out of the room

"Running a casino must be hard..."

I let it slip, sometimes I almost forget that this is a casino and their workplace

"It's business as usual, after all have to manage to balance our responsibilities as devils with the work here at the Dark Devil Casino"

After she said the name of the Casino, it actually reminded me of another thing I shoud have asked her long ago

"Hey, Liliana... why did you named this place Dark Devil Casino?"

She tilts her head and answers

Oh right, I never explained it to you, did I? Well, Dark Devil is actually the nickname I gained in the underworld."

"Nickname?"

She nods

"In the underworld, devils usually gain nicknames, Rias is the "Crimson Princess of Ruin", her brother is know as the "Red Satan", Issei is the "Oppai Dragon", Mayumi is know as "The Poisoner Queen" and I gained the nickname "Dark Devil" after my debut in the rating games"

I can totally understand most of these nicknames, but...

"What the hell does "Oppai Dragon" mean?"

Issei is a guy obsessed by breasts, I know that and everyone who spends more than a hour around him knows that too, but has this fame spread so much that even the devils nicknamed him because of that?

"It's hard to explain, well, if you stick around him for enough time you'll see..."

Liliana says with a troubled expression

"So Dark Devil is your nickname..."

I say as I remember the words that Kuriko told me

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Liliana asks looking at me

"W-well, remember when I said that I asked Kuriko to do a reading of my abilities?"

She nods

"Yes, what about it?"

I scratch my cheek not knowing exactly how to put it

"Well... she also saw my future in a dream of hers, she said I was going to meet a Dark Devil and that would change my life"

I then give a small laugh

"Guess that she was right, huh?"

I say looking at Liliana who seems taken by surprise

"R-really? Kuriko-chan really predicted that we two would meet?"

She says with her eyes sparkling and grabing my hand

"Y-yeah, she said that if I went to Kuoh we would end up meeting, but just like her, she didn't gave me anymore information about who it would be, so I was looking for the Dark Devil ever since I arrived there, but I think you ended up finding my first, hahahaha!"

I laugh while reminding myself of our first encounter, but Liliana simply lets go off my hands and looks ahead with a big blush on her face

"I-I see..."

"Huh? Is something the matter?"

She shakes head and turns to me, but isn't looking at my face

"It's just that... it feels like we were destined to meet each other, it's a bit embarassing, isn't it?"

"Ah, ah..."

I also look away embarassed, I hadn't even thought of it! But it really is embarassing! I just said to a girl that I was destined to meet her!

"Sorry about it, I didn't thought of it that way. W-well, she also said that I would have to choose between two paths after meeting you..."

Liliana's face then returns to a serious tone

"Do you think she was talking about the evil pieces?"

I nod, I've been thinking about it for a while, is there any other thing that could be it? It's plainly obvious that it must be choosing between continuing as human or becoming a devil, but even so... the choice is obvious

"You don't want to become a devil, right?"

Liliana asks and I shake my head

"I'm sorry, but I still wanna be with you all"

"I see, then it doesn't matter..."

Liliana then laughs and turns to me with a big smile on her face

"Because... I'm happy you are with me!"

I turn my head down, cute! Liliana is incredibly cute! How the hell am I supposed to look at her?

"Y-yeah, I'm also happy to be with you..."

Ah, my face must be so damn red!

"Tatsyo-san, Liliana-ane!"

The doors opens and Aya-chan, Manaki and Galard come walking through the door

"Ah, A-Aya-chan!"

I stand up to greet her

"Galard, Manaki, hello there!"

Liliana greets them too

"Tatseyo-san!"

Aya runs to my side

"How was it with her?"

Liliana asks her two companions

A healthy laugh echoes from Galard

"She's a really nice young lady... kinda reminds me of you in your childhood Liliana-sama, ah, you used to climb on my back and..."

"Ah! Stop, stop! Don't say it!"

Liliana-san is quick to interrupt his words waving her hands fiercely in a sign for him stop, her face is tottaly red... it's kinda cute

"... Aya-chan sure demonstrates a lot of potential for magic"

Manaki says, I'm happy to hear it, not only for Aya's well being but also for my own curiosity, as someone who lived most of my life surrounded by espers, someone who can use magic trully intriguates me.

"Is everything alright?"

Aya-chan nods her head

"Yes! After the training they showed me around the garden, it's really beautiful! There were all kinds of plants, some I didn't even know existed!"

Well, one of Galard's speciality is clorokinesis, no suprise the garden here must be something amazing

"It's getting late, I think you should head home for now, Tatseyo, tomorrow we'll begin your routine"

"Yes, I'll be here, hey Liliana-san, can I ask you something else?"

Liliana tilts her head

"Uh? What is it?"

"Aya-chan told me you deactivated the seals around my house all by yourself, how did you do it?"

The question that was on the back my head comes back now, but the reception I get is far from what I expected

Galard and Manaki look at Liliana with terrified eyes, almost as if they are scared of the answer

Liliana's eyes wide and she answers in a nervous tone

"T-that's a bit complicated... I'm going to explain it to you... eventually, just not today, alright?"

The surprised look on Liliana's face and the nervous expressions of her servants tell me that I really shouldn't pursue it further

"O-okay, well, see you later then"

Liliana's expression then returns to normal and her servants seem to be relieved that I dropped the subject

"Don't forget, the current objective is for you to master your 100%! Today was only the first day, be ready to meet hell!"

"Go ahead, give me your worst!"

The mood becomes light again and we all give a few laughs before Aya and I use the circle to go back to my house, or is it our house now?

 **Part 3**

Aya and I are having dinner while discussing a few things, untill she touches a particular subject

"Tatseyo-san, do you have any friends outside town?"

"Uhm, friends? Well I do have a few but... you see, most people end being afraid of me because of my looks and even espers because of my family and powers are hesitant in approaching me"

"I'm sorry to hear that"

She says and I wave my hand

"Don't worry, I have a few esper friends, I have you, Liliana-san and even a childhood friend"

"A childhood friend?"

"Yeah, Ayumu..."

Wait... Ayumu?

"Damnit, I almost forgot about something!"

I say standing up from the table and taking to my cellphone

"W-what happened?"

Aya-chan asks and I answer while searching fror the number

"I have a friend called Ayumu Yatshushiro, I promissed that once the things here had settled down I would call her so she could come here"

I dial the number and it rings for a few moments before I hear the familiar voice of my childhood friend from it

"Tachan?"

"Ayumu! I've been meaning to call you, how are you?"

Ayumu answers in a nearly scolding tone

"Thank God! What took you so long? I was worried about you!"

I really took long to call her, didn't I? It's just that there was so much happening...

"I'm sorry, Ayumu, but a lot of things have happened since the last time I called you"

A curious reply comes from the other side of the line

"Huh? What things? Is everything alright? "

"Oh, yes, everything is alright it's just that..."

I freeze for a moment, how the heck am I supposed to explain all of these things to her through the phone? I was barely able to believe when it was right in front of me!

"Tachan? Are you okay?"

I realize that I was probably holding up for longer than I thought

"Y-yeah, look Ayumu... are you still interested in coming to Kuoh town?"

That's it, if I'm going to explain things to Ayumu, then it's gotta be face to face, I have to show her the things I've seen otherwise she won't believe it

"Really?! You mean I can go there?"

She says in a very excited voice

"Y-yes, there are things I need to talk to you and it's gotta be in person, there are also people I need to introduce to you"

Her voice returns to a nervous tone

"S-sure, is it something serious?"

I nod even though she can't see me

"Yes, I'm afraid it is serious, but trust me, you wanna see this and don't worry, I'm not in danger"

"A-alright, I just have to solve a few things here and talk to the Council, after that I'll go straight there, alright?"

"Yes, that's good and Ayumu..."

"Yes?"

This is probably the most important part of this conversation

"When you arrive in Kuoh town you might notice something is out of place, but I need you to be calm and please, unless you are attacked or see an evil spirit, do not attack any devils or youkais in this town, this is very important, you understand?"

Ayumu doesn't answers me for a while but then finally answers

"O-okay, but why?"

I sigh, it's really hard to explain...

"Well, in this town they happen to have some sort of agreement that they won't hurt humans, in fact some are even protecting it, so unless they try something against you, please refrain from interacting with them untill I introduce you"

"W-what? Are you serious? Demons protecting a town?"

I put my hand against my forehead, as expected, something like that is almost impossible to believe in

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but trust me, it will all make sense once I show you, so please trust me"

I am asking too much, I realize that, I'm asking for Ayumu to come to a town she doesn't know promissing to show her something utterly ridiculous that even I didn't knew about untill a little time ago.

"Tachan... you are being a bit scary..."

"I know, I'm sorry Ayumu, but you are one of the few people I can trust with this..."

After a few moments of silence, her voice answers in an anoyed, but confident tone

"Geez, alright! I'm going to trust you, after all what kind of friend would I be if I didn't? But you better be ready to explain everything to me once I arrive!"

I smile and breath out in relieve

"Thank you, Ayumu, see you later then"

"Goodbye Tachan, see you soon"

I hang up and keep staring at the phone screen

"You seem happy"

Aya-chan calls my attention

"Oh, yeah yeah, sorry about this"

I say realizing I've been ignoring her presence all along

"Yatsushiro-san seems like a good person"

I nod

"Yes she is, I've know her since we were children"

"She's an esper too?"

"Yes and a powerful one at that"

Aya makes a concerned face

"You were worried that she was going to attack the devils... just like you did?"

I regretfully look at her

"Yes... to an esper, attacking evil presences is an instinct, it's something that we've been dealing with our whole life, but I can't keep this hidden away from her."

I've been thinking about how am I going to break this information to the other espers, is there another one who knows about it? Do my parents know? And if not, how I'm going to tell them that I'm living surrounded by devils and youkais now?

"Keeping this a secret from the other espers is a pain, but if I'm going to start revealing it from somewhere, it's gotta be with her"

Aya-chan puts her hand under her chin and seems confused

"Uhm... I don't really understand things like this, but if Tatseyo-san trusts her, then I'll trust her too"

"Thank you, I'm sure she'll like you too"

Despite my reassuring words, that night I didn't slept very well due to the nervousness of how to break the news to my dear childhood friend whose upbringing into the esper world was far more terrifying than many cases around the world

 **Afterword** : I know I took way too long to post these two chapters, but things were crazy since the last update, not only I'm back to studying, I also had to help in the reforms in my house and it was Carnival in my country, so it was tough to write everything on time, thanks for understanding it and I hope you enjoyed the chapters


	29. Control and teamwork

**Part 1**

The next day, me and Aya-chan made the jump using the seal on the new basement of my house to Liliana's casino

"Hi, Liliana"

"Liliana-ane!"

This time Diz is together with her

After the usual exchange of greetings, I sit in one of the couches and start talking to Liliana about my call last night

"Liliana, I invited one of my friends to come to Kuoh town"

The pairs of golden and red eyes wide at my revelation

"W-what?"

Diz asks in a nervous voice

"Really?"

Despite the initial shock, their later reactions are completely different, while Diz stays nervous, Liliana has her eyes sparkling and sits by my side

"Who is it?!"

She is... excited?

"Eer... her name is Ayumu Yatsushiro, she is my friend since we were kids"

I answer, still confused at Liliana's reaction

"She's one of the few people I can actually trust with these new things... so I was wondering if I could bring her here"

She promptly nods with her eyes shining

"Tatseyo's childhood friend? Of course! Is she an esper too?"

"Y-yeah, when she was first introduced to me, she had problems with controlling her powers, because of that she was deemed as a danger for her family and town as a whole, so we took her in and taught her how to use her powers"

After I say this, Liliana's bright expression turns gloomy

"Oh... I-I'm sorry, is everything alright with her?"

I fiercely nod and answer to try not worry her

"Y-yes! We've been taking care of her for a long time, she's much better at using her powers now, don't worry"

"Ah, that's good to hear"

She says giving out a breath of relieve

"Even so, Liliana-sama, are you sure it's okay to bring her here?"

Diz asks and Liliana tilts her head

"Uh? Why wouldn't it? Tatseyo trusts this girl, so of course I'll trust her too"

She says with a smile

"I agree, if she's someone that Tatseyo-san trusts, then I don't think she'll cause trouble"

Liliana looks at Aya-chan and nods

"Also, this will get us closer to our goal of approaching the esper community and the underworld"

Diz makes a troubled face

"I-I see... well, it's not like I think she'll cause trouble either..."

She answers and Liliana looks pleased

"But even so... to think that Tatseyo has a childhood friend..."

Liliana then embraces my arm! H-hey!

"Naughty boy ~ How far have you two gone?"

She asks with a provocative expression, what are you talking about?!

"Liliana-sama!"

"Liliana-ane!"

Aya and Diz scold Liliana's advances in front of them

"M-me and Ayumu have nothing like that going on! We're just friends!"

I say and Liliana puts on a confused expression

"Eh? Really? Don't japanese people take childhood friendships seriously? Haven't you two made that sort of 'let's get married in the future' promise?"

What kind of misconception is that?! You have read too much manga!

"Of course not! Who the hell makes promises like that?!"

I say and Liliana hugs my arm tighter

"Even if it's a childhood friend, I won't lose ~~"

Lose? Lose how?!

"I-I'm not going to lose either!"

Aya-chan declares nervously, even you?!

"Tsk, pervert..."

Diz says looking at the flustered me

"H-hey, what have I done?"

"Mou, Diz-chan!"

Liliana let go off my arm and spoke to Diz

"Don't be so mean to Tatseyo, in fact, wasn't there something you wanted to tell him?"

Liliana asks Diz, who becomes flustered at her words, Diz has to tell me something?

"C'mon, tell him, if you don't, I'll do it ~~"

Diz shakes her head while going bright red, the way they are talking is actually making me nervous about what she's going to say

"Y-you don't have to! Tatseyo..."

She then bows down

"I'm very sorry for leaving you alone at the training dimension!"

Oh! So that's what they were talking about!

I wave my hand

"A-ah... about that, don't worry, it was fine, really"

Liliana starts pinching Diz's cheek with an impish smile, it's kinda comical because Diz is tall, so she's lowering herself while Liliana scolds her

"Leaving our guest alone because you became embarassed, how unprofessional of my head of security, good thing Mayumi went to see you two"

Diz answers with teary eyes

"I'm shorry, Liliana-shama..."

"You don't have to be so strict with her, it was fine really"

It actually was quite a problem, if it wasn't for Mayumi, I would have no idea how to get out of there, but things turned out alright and I'm starting to feel sorry about Diz

Liliana then let's go off her cheek

"If you say so, anyway, don't do this again"

"Understood..."

Diz says with a flustered face while caressing the cheek that Liliana pinched

"Anyway, there's no problem with Yatsushiro-chan coming, but if she's going to stay with you that means she'll be in the Gremory territory, do they know about it?"

I nod

"Yes, before I left school, I warned them that a friend of mine would be coming to town, they got a bit nervous at first, but after I said that I warned her to not harm anyone, they eased up. They even told me that I could bring her to the ORC if I wanted, hahaha"

The ORC and the student council received the news better than I thought, but I still think introducing them first would be a bad move

"Are you going to introduce them?"

Liliana asks and I scratch the back of my head

"Well, I'll have to, eventually, but if it's to make a first impression, then I would rather if she saw you all first, since you are espers"

"Of course! We'll glady have her!"

Liliana says while giving a broad smile, seriously, how excited is she?

"We'll have who?"

Manaki, who just arrived in the room, asks

"Ah, Manaki-chan, we are talking about Tatseyo's childhood friend"

The blue haired girl tilts her head

"Childhood friend? Is she an esper too?"

Liliana nods

"Yes! She's going to arrive here soon, do you have any idea when, Tatseyo?"

She asks and I shake my head

"No, Ayumu said there are things she needs to solve before coming, she's a prominent esper after all, but she'll probably call me before arriving"

"I see, that's good, we'll have time to plan how we are gonna break things out for her then"

Liliana says with a hand under her chin

"Excuse me, Liliana-sama, I came here so me and Tatseyo could start his training, is that alright?"

Manaki asks walking up next to me

Liliana gives a thumbs up

"Of course, I'm a little busy today, so I won't be able to accompany either of you, are you alright training with Mayumi today, Aya-chan?"

Aya happily agrees and we follow to our training sessions

 **Part 2**

Today is the second day of training with Liliana and her servants, this time it's with Galard and Manaki. We are in the same forest at the artificial dimension as before, this place is really good, I wonder I acquired this taste for open fields from my mom. Aya-chan and Mayumi are also here, but they are training in their own area

Galard, who's usually wearing a noble european attire is now wearing a simple white robe while Manaki is wearing a clothing that makes it hard for me to look at her

"H-hey, Manaki, why are you wearing this clothing?"

It's a dark blue bodysuit that basically covers everything except her hands, feet and above the neck, but it's a tight fit, so I can basically see all the curves of her body! It's almost like the outfits that Xenovia and Irina were wearing

"I'm a [Knight], so mobility is important for me and this clothing let's me move freely, is there something wrong?"

"N-no"

Except for the fact that I can tell the size of your breasts through it!

"Kakakakaka! Being young sure is fun!"

Galard says stroking his beard, this geezer!

Manaki doesn't seem to understand and tilts her head

"Should we start the training now?" - She says in a monotone voice

"Alright, alright, let's begin with this then"

Galard picks up a small object and holds it between his fingers

"A seed... the beginning of all life. Trees, animals, devils even the universe was just a seed before it all started"

He says while looking at it with keen eyes, he really sounds just like those old-masters from martial arts films

 **THUD**

He then pierces a hole on the ground with his staff, plants the seed and covers it with dirt

"Kageyama-kun, I've heard that you can use energy manipulation to control the growth of plants, am I right?"

I nod

"Yes, though I don't think I'm quite as good as you are"

Galard waves his hand

"Let's not worry about this now, what I want you to do is tell me one thing, what kind of seed was the one I just planted?"

"What?"

I ask, not quite understanding what he wants me to do, is it a guess game?

"Place your hands on the ground and tell me what kind of plant is it"

I kneel down and place my hands on the top of the hole

"W-what am I supposed to do?"

"You can feel the life energy that runs through other beings and you can identify them too, right?"

Wait, does he want me to tell what kind of seed it is just by the life flux? Impossible!

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to do that to a plant?"

I can identify living beings and tell a living plant from a fake one, but telling a species of seed from another?!

"Just focus on the life energy"

"But that's im- Ouch!"

Galard hits the back of my head with his staff

"Stop saying that it's impossible and just try it"

"Okay..."

I focus my reading towards the ground and I can sense the life energy coming from it

This is just too difficult...

Unlike sentient beings, plants don't have a particular aura, they don't have personality, presence or experiences that can define them, it's already difficult to do a full reading of a full grown tree, even more so at a mere seed!

"W-well, I can see that it's energy wants it to grow upwards so... a tree, perhaps?"

I ask and Galard approves the answer

"Good, but there's more, keep going"

"By the flow I can tell it's going to be average sized, so I can tell it's not an oak, haha"

"Focus, there's still more to see"

"Uhm... uhm... sorry, it won't."

No matter how much I try, I can't feel more than that

"Ah, that's disapointing, you can't sense nothing more?"

I shake my head

"Oh well, let's see what it is then, use your energy to make it grow"

"Roger that"

I direct my energy towards the seed and make it grow

The trunk starts appearing, as I expected, it's a tree but after a few seconds I notice what kind of tree it is

"Apples?"

I ask now that the fruits have appeared

Galard nods satisfied

"Apples indeed!"

He taps the trunk of the tree making some of them fall

"Well, the shape is good, it's big and healthy, now let's see the taste"

He cleans one on his robe

"Ah, Galard-san I think you really shouldn't do that, the fruits I grow usually don't taste very good"

He waves his hand and throws another apple to Manaki who looks at it with an analyzing gaze

"Nonsense, I'm sure it must taste fine"

Both take a bite at it and...

""PFFFFFT""

They both spit out almost immediately

"I warned you"

Galard and Manaki look at the apple with a baffled expression

"How can something so pretty taste so bad..."

Manaki says wipping her mouth

"The shape, the color and even the insides seem fine, just the taste is rotten, how the hell do you did that?"

I shake my head awkwardly

"Sorry, it happens everytime, the plants I grow usually seem fine but taste like shit."

Galard looks t me with a troubled expression

"I see... well, I guess now we might know what the problem is, right Manaki?"

The blue haired girl nods

"Uhm? What are you guys talking about?"

"Exageration, you don't have balance"

Manaki bluntly answers

"Balance?"

"You lack equilibrium with your powers and that must be why you can't control your 100% yet."

Galard explains and Manaki continues while still looking at the bad tasting apple on her hand

"You either hold back or go all out, your lack of balance makes that using your 100% puts a burden on your body, that is already not that strong"

I wide my eyes in surprise, that's it? So that's all I have to do to control my 100%?

"R-really? And how am I going to do this?"

Galard raises one finger in the air

"With some old-school esper training of course!"

Uh? Old school?

Manaki looks at him and nods

"Indeed, the best way to make him achieve balance is through training after all"

"Alright..."

I've never had trully esper practice but from what I heard from Ayumu and others, it envolves some pretty extreme stuff

"Where do we begin then?"

Manaki steps forward and states

"Before we do any training, I would like if you did the same thing with me"

I look at her confused

"Same... thing?"

She points at the newborn apple tree

"Analyze me with your power"

"W-what?"

I ask dumbfounded and she simply takes my hand

"You are not pshycometric like I am, but your analytic power is good, so tell me what you can find out about me with your awareness"

So she wants me to use my power to analyze her and see what I can find, well, it's easier than a tree at least

"Okay then, but I don't need to touch you for that"

"Oh, alright then"

She lets go off my hand and I take a deep breath

"I'm going to begin"

Manaki nods and I focus my awareness on her

"What do you feel?"

She asks

"Well... you are a devil and you have the aura of an esper, I can sense that your aura is strong, but harbors no hostility or malice, also-"

"Go deeper"

"Excuse me?"

Manaki pokes her own chest

"Go deeper... all the way inside of me"

I gulp my saliva down

"D-d-deeper i-inside?"

Though I understand what she's talking about, her choice of words couldn't have been worse!

"Yes, do I have to get closer?"

She steps closer to me but I step back and hold my arm towards her

"N-no need! I can do it from afar!"

Manaki tilts her head and stops

"Okay"

She says and I hear the old man's laugh, shut the fuck up! This ain't funny!

I focus again and just like she asked I go deeper into her untill I bump into something strange

"Is this your..."

Something like a core of demonic energy...

No, this is not a core, it's a...

"Curse?"

I ask, this is a curse, it's definitely a curse, but it's also different... wait, could it be?

"The [Evil Piece]?"

I ask and Manaki and Galard nod with a pleased expression

"I see, so you can sense even up to my core..."

"Dealing with living beings must trully be easier for him"

They are saying things like that, but I still don't understand

"H-hey, wait a minute, so the [Evil Piece] system is really a curse?"

When I first heard about it, I compared it with the monster cells that were once used to turn humans into monsters, but this is completely different then!

"The effect from the evil pieces is what allows another creature to turn into a devil, however it's not simply just a curse, the material from which these pieces are crafted are probably as old as the underworld itself, so far there were not even gods or budhas who able to break the effect once someone is turned into a devil"

Galard explains, so it's a curse, but at the same time it's not a curse. It's what allows them to become devils and receive the power-ups that Liliana and Mayumi explained to me in that night at the warehouse

But most of all...

"So it's forever, huh?"

Not even a God or Budha is able to revert the effect, so it means the only way to get out of it is... death, right?

"It is a lifelong decision, we only took it because we trust Liliana-sama with our hearts"

Galard says with the eyes of someone who was at peace and certain of what he did

"Yes"

Manaki gives a simple answer while noding her head, but her expression also shows that she is confident and doesn't regret her decision

Since I've met Liliana, I found out that there are people in this world whose life improved after becoming a devil, so it must have been the same for them. By the way that they relate themselves with Liliana, anyone can tell they have a great deal of respect for her.

"Did you two joined at the same time?"

I ask and they shake their heads

"No, Galard joined first"

He nods

"Though Mayumi was already here when I met Liliana-sama, I had the honour of becoming her second servant"

Manaki says with a distant look

"I was the last one to join..."

Liliana did told me that Mayumi was the first one to join, so if Galard was the second and Manaki the last, that means Diz was the third one.

"Regarding that, Galard, is your name in honour to the original Henry Galard?"

A doubt I had since I've heard his name.

Henry Galard, a legend in the esper community and one of oldest espers recorded in history. Among some humans, his feats made him become viewed as a wizard, though he presented himself as some sort of druid. He served many noble houses in Europe at his time as a healer, exorcist, apothecary and magician. It was only hundreds of years after his disappearance that it was recognized he was actually an esper.

That Henry Galard and the one that's standing in front of me have an uncanny resemblance when it comes to powers, but their physical descriptions don't exactly match...

"Hahahaha, so you heard about that? Is the name Henry Galard really that famous?"

He asks and I fiercely nod

"Famous? Every esper knows his story, he worked for several noble houses throughout the whole Europe and even though he was arrested during the French Revolution for serving the royal family, he never used his powers to hurt anyone and escaped without injuring a single person. The guy is a legend!"

I declare loudly, it is unknown if the original Henry Galard ever fought against a person, he never served in an actual war and his services were more used when royals needed potions, healing or contact and protection from the spiritual world, but one of the things that made him famous nowadays was his vow to never injure a normal person with his powers. The night after his imprisonment, vines destroyed the walls that surrounded his cell, the guards were found asleep and he was never seem again.

Even when arrested and facing execution he refused to harm others to escape, therefore he is used as an example to all the young espers on learning phase, even dad considers him an example

"Kakaka, I see, to think that the new generations would be talking so much about me, I guess I should be happy"

Galard declares while closing his eyes, leaving me very confused

"Eh... what do you mean with 'I should be happy'?"

I ask him and Manaki answers bluntly

"Galard is the Henry Galard from the legends you are talking about"

...

"EEEEEHHHHHH?!"

I shout, what? He is _the_ Henry galard, the man himself?

"W-w-what?! You joking, right? You are him?!"

I ask and Galard gives a laugh while stroking his beard

"Yes, it's me, I might have changed a little, but I'm still the old geezer you might have heard about"

My jaw drops

I can't belive, it's Henry Galard! They just confirmed it!

"W-wait, if it's trully you then... that must mean you are..."

I start making counts in my mind, there is no official birth date so no one knows exactly in what year he was born, but that must mean he is at least...

"Over 200 very well-lived years old, kakakakaka!"

Two hundred years!

"W-wait, then Liliana-san is..."

As I'm about to expeculate about Liliana's age, Galard shakes his head

"No, no, Liliana-sama is the age she actually looks, I am just an esper that lived a lot, when I met her and Mayumi, they were still children"

I see, so they are not hiding their age with magic

It's not a surprise to me that espers are able to live a lot longer than regular humans, we are not like devils or angels, but there are plenty of ways an esper can increase his lifespan as long as his soul exists, so espers can vastly outlive regular humans.

"What's the problem? Never met an old esper before?"

"N-not as old as you..."

I already met espers who were older than 100 years and were still very active and didn't look their age at all. Mom and dad for example, look way younger than they are, but it's the first time I'm meeting someone who has already surpassed two centuries! I guess that makes me happy, as this probably means mom and dad will still be around for a long time.

"Anyway, how did Liliana met you? They said you just vanished from the map after escaping prison!"

Any register about Henry Galard ends right after his prison break, no one knows what happened to him afterwards

Galard makes a troubled expression and supports his staff on his shoulder

"Well, instead of saying we met, I believe it would be right to say Liliana-sama found me..."

"Found you?"

Manaki nods

"When Liliana-sama found Galard, he was hiding in the mountains"

What? So that was his hideout!

The legendary esper gives a gleeful laugh

"That's right! After being arrested I decided my nobility days were over and hid in a forest of my very own creation deep in the mountains, it was there that I let my hair and beard grow like this"

He says stroking his beard again, so that's why he's so different from the illustrations...

"How did Liliana found you?"

He shrugs

"Strange coincidences..."

He says looking at the distance, this is barely an answer

"Now!"

He hits me with his staff

"Ouch!"

"We don't have time to waste, let's get to the training! Kakakakaka!"

Galard turns his back and starts walking, me and Manaki follow right after him

"W-wait, what about you Manaki, how did you met Liliana?"

I ask and Manaki answers disinterested

"My story is not nearly as interesting as Galard's, when Liliana-sama met me, I was in a gang using my powers to commit crimes, especially fraud and robberies"

W-what?!

"What do you mean with not interesting? You were a gang member?!"

Not even in a million years I would have thought that this quiet, cold-beauty was a criminal! Of course she got me interested! Everybody always thinks I'm a deliquent, but she is the real deal!

"It's not that interesting, I worked with some other espers too, you probably already heard about criminal organizations like that"

I nod, in a world where the vast majority has no clue about the supernatural, of course there are those who use their powers to take advantage of others, father got into problems with Teruki-san when they first met because of that, gangs made up of espers or criminal organizations that hire or are led by espers are not something as unusual as me and the esper community would like them to be.

"I wanted out, so after I met Liliana-sama, she gave me a new life as a devil and a fresh start here in Kuromaku, I am very thankful to her for that"

"But how did you two met?"

Manaki shrugs and says

"After a job that didn't went quite as we expected, I became Liliana-sama's contact and then part of her peerage, nothing much..."

Nothing much? This is definitely a lot! Explain it properly!

"Here we are, the place of your training"

After a few moments walking in the middle of a dense monochromatic forest, we reach a place that is very colorful

There's flowers of different colours, different types of trees and there's even a lake with a waterfall in it!

"Wow... amazing"

This artificial dimension just doesn't cease to impress me!

"Hehehe, artificial dimensions such as this were first designed by Maou Ajuka Belzebub, he's trully a genius, even Liliana-sama looks up to him"

Ajuka Belzebub? So he's another one of the Maous in the underworld, if he was the one to have designed this artificial dimensions then I'm really thankful to him.

Wait... did I just said I'm thankful to a devil? Heh, times are changing...

"But this area here, ah, this area is all mine!"

Galard says produly while taping a tree

"Your area?"

I ask and he nods

"I usually come here to train too, as you must know, I am a clorokinetic, it means my skill allows me to summon, grow and manipulate plants as I desire"

Galard says as he taps his staff on the floor and several flowers bloom right after

"But I'm also able to genetically manipulate palnts in order to create my own especies, some of these plants cannot be found anywhere but here, kekekeke"

He proudly states

Genetic manipulation, Kuriko and her father can also do this to an extent, however, as the overpowered creatures that they are, they can even do it on sentient beings. But that doesn't make Galard's any less impressive

"That's amazing"

"Kakakaka, right? I have even more in my garden, one day I'll show it to you, now let's focus on your training"

I nod

"Alright, where do I begin?"

"Well, we're going to begin with simple meditation"

Galard says and Manaki agrees

"...If it's to achieve balance, then medidation is a basic"

So just a standard medidation

"Okay, I'm going to begin then"

I prepare myself to sit down

"What are you doing?"

Galard asks and I turn to him

"Preparing to medidate?"

I reply and he shakes his head

"Not here, there"

He points his staff towards the lake where the waterfall is making a loud noise

"The waterfall?"

I ask, it's a standard training to medidate under a waterfall, but I honestly didn't expect we would be doing something so cliché...

"Here, wear this"

Galard throws me a larger white robe similar to the one he's wearing

"A-alright..."

I dress the robe and walk on top of the water and sit down at the waterfall in a zazen position while the strong pressure of the waters falls on top of my body

...

Just as I'm starting to concentrate and go deep into my medidation state

!

Something comes towards me!

I open my eyes and put my hand forward, stopping whatever was coming in my direction

"A... sword?"

Not just a sword, it's made out of energy, like the one made by...

"Manaki! Was it you?"

I yell while stepping out of the waterfall

I ask to her and she nods with a blank expression

"Just medidating won't be enough, it usually takes years for someone to find their balance, you have talent, but that alone won't be enough. Defend yourself and maintain your balance while not losing your concentration!"

So that's what they want me to do?!

I sigh out, when in battle, of course I can easily defend myself from any direction no matter how many attacks there are, but they want me to do all that while trying to achieve a deep meditation state!

"Also, try to keep these in the air!"

Galard throws in the air several stones and I catch them with telekinesis

"Keep them circling in the air while avoiding the attacks and don't forget to keep your concentration!"

What?!

"Are you crazy, old man? How am I suposed to achieve a zen state if you keep attacking me and asking me to do complex tasks?!"

"You have to! If you don't want to meditate inside of a cave for the next ten years, this is the only way to develop in-battle focus, now sit there and concentrate!"

Galard says while pointing his staff at me

"Ugh... *sigh*, fine"

Not wanting to argue with Henry Galard, I sit back and I start my meditation from scratch, keeping the objects moving in the air whislt blocking and destroying the attacks from both him and Manaki

"You lost focus! Start over!"

"The balance is off, try again!"

"Your aura is uneasy, focus on your breathing!"

Galard scolds at every mistake I make, it's annoying, but the fact that I'm training with the legendary esper whose legends I've heard since childhood makes the situation a bit more bearable.

However, in the end I still wasn't able to achieve balance at all...

"Ah, this was useless wasn't it?"

I ask disapointed, in the end I feel like I wasn't able to reach anything

But Galard taps my shoulder

"Do not worry, balance and inner control is something that cannot be rushed, you have talent, but even you will take some time"

I smile wrily

"Hey, Tatseyo..."

Manaki calls my attention and I turn towards her

"What is it?"

"Please hold this"

Manaki gives her glasses to me and starts walking on top of the water

"H-hey, what are you doing?"

I ask as she makes her way to the waterfall

"Don't worry, this suit is waterproof"

She answers, that's not what I'm concerned about!

"Oh, so you want to show him how it's done, Manaki?"

The girl nods and sits on the bottom of the waterfall in the same position as I did

"Ooooohhhh..."

She then says this for a while and several pshychic constructs appear mid-air and starting being juggled around in a very coordinate way, just like I was doing, well, _trying_ to do with the objects that Galard had ordered me to

"Well, that's good, let's begin then!"

Galard waits untill Manaki has reached a zen state and starts throwing demonic energy attacks, summoning plants that shoot spikes towards her, some that throw poison and big trees that try to catch her in it's vines or just outright fall on top of her.

 **VOOSH CRACK CUT**

But Manaki expertly cuts all the attacks down by creating weapons designed to stop every attack, swords that cut the vines down, shields that stop the poison, demonic energy and spikes, axes that chop the trees and flying spears that readily pierce then so that they won't fall on top of her.

"W-wow..."

I give out an impressed expression, not because of what she's doing, but because she's doing it without losing an ounce of focus!

Seriously, this girl is currently meditating as if there's nothing going on around her at all! Her aura is completely still and her face is as blank and serene as always

"Impressive, right?"

Galard says stopping his attacks and just gazing at the peaceful Manaki

"Yes, how does she do that?"

"A lot of training of course, if you keep up, I'm sure you can become like her, perhaps even better"

He says with a proud expression, so he trained her too?

"Do you really think I can become like that? Manaki always seems so... calm and collected, I don't know if I can do it like her"

I say this and Galard reveals a sad expression

"I believe you can, in the beginning, Manaki had trouble too you know?"

I tilt my head

"Really?"

Galard nods

"When she first arrived, that girl's head was everywhere, she was a former criminal that had problems with trusting other people besides Liliana-sama. So I taught her how to medidate and how to put her energy into more useful things."

"She seems much better now"

He sighs

"Is that so? I think that girl still hasn't come into terms with her own feelings..."

He's looking at her still seeing sad

"It's true that she doesn't show a lot of emotion, but I thought that was just her own style."

They call it Kuudere, isn't it? I thought it suited her

Galard tilts his head

"Style huh? Ah, there's no way a 200 year old man like me can understand the feelings of a young girl, so I'm going to leave it you, okay?"

He says with a laugh and I wide my eyes, what is he talking about?!

"W-what are you even saying?! Don't throw this kind of responsibility to me! I know her even less than you!"

The old geezer laughs again while stroking his beard

"Kekeke, don't worry, I"m sure you'll do fine, you are a Kageyama after all"

He says that in such a carefree tone, this is definitely not how I expected Henry Galard to be!

"Are you finished?"

When I look back, Manaki has walked out of the waterfall and is standing on top of the water, her clothes really are waterproof, but she's completely drenched.

"Oh, yes, sorry about that, I realize now that I didn't give Tatseyo a chance to hit you, kekeke!"

Despite the mocking tone, Manaki seems to think about it seriously

"It was just a demonstration, though I don't think I would be able to stop Tatseyo's attack if he went all out..."

Manaki says stepping out of the water and creating a towel to wipe herself, she can create even ordinary items like this?

"I don't think there was any need for me to attack, you did amazing Manaki, I was wondering if I'll be able to do that one day..."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't be surprised if you reached this stage much faster than I did"

She says drying her hair

"...You are far better than I was when I began after all"

Manaki states, so what Galard said must be true after all

"T-thank you"

Manaki shakes her head

"No need, but there's another thing that I would like to train with you... if you have time of course."

"Yes, no problem, what is it?"

Manaki finishes drying herself and the towel disappears

"Have you ever fought on a team?"

"Huh?"

Her strange question takes me by surprise

"I take it that this is a 'no'?"

If I ever worked with a team? I only realized it now, but this must be important for them

"N-no, I really haven't"

I shake my head as I think about it, I never worked in a team my whole life, all the works and fights I've ever been only involved me, well... there were a few times years ago when I was at the beginning of my carrer that mom, dad or another responsible esper would tag along, I also accompanied Ayumu in some of her missions too, but those were rare situations

Manaki nods

"I see, but we need to work on this then"

Galard agrees with her

"Team work is very imporant, you are very strong on your own, but if you are going to work with us, cooperation is essential"

"Got it, how are we going to work on it them?"

Manaki summons several weapons and says

"The only way to improve teamwork is through battle, so we are going to take turns, first I'll fight against you and Galard and after that you and me will fight against him"

I nod

"Alright, let's do it"

Manaki jumps back and several big, robot like creatures made of energy appear beside her

"I see, so you can even create your own squad with it"

Manaki consents

"Yes and don't expect me to go easy on you"

I smile confidently

"It wouldn't be of any good if you did!"

Me and Galard charge at Manaki and her golems of energy

But...

"Ugh! Watch out!"

"S-sorry!"

My teamwork proves terrible as I destroy Galard's attacks and almost hit him with my own, I even try to use my [Psychic binding] to stop Manaki from attacking, but I end up affecting Galard as well

"H-hey, you almost got me in that one! Hold back a little when I'm on the line of fire!"

This keeps going for a few minutes untill Manaki asks us to stop

"That was..."

Galard says as if looking for the right words

"Terrible"

Manaki bluntly completes his quote

I put my hand against my forehead

"S-sorry... I'm really not used with working on a team"

I tried to do everything by myself and that usually put Galard in danger as well or got in the way of his own strategy

"Well, it's not like we can blame you for working alone all of your life, also, if you are strong enough, you might not need to work on a team, there are plenty of fighters, even among peerages, that rather go face to face with the enemy rather than relying on team work"

Galard says while supporting his chin on his staff

However, Manaki looks at him and shakes her head

"No, that won't do..."

She approaches me and looks at Galard

"I need to be useful to Liliana-sama, it means I have to be able to work with anything available, if I can't do at least this much I wouldn't be honoring my duty towards her..."

Manaki seems to care a lot about her duty towards Liliana

Galard sighs and consents while looking sad

"...I see, well then, what do you intend to do?"

Manaki taps my shoulder and says

"I'm going to use my [Skill], you should use yours too"

Their skill? So they are going to use it now?

I'm actually looking forward to it, despite all the registers about Henry Galard's life, there were none about what his skill could actually be and I'm curious about what [skill] Manaki has too

"Oh, so we are going serious now?"

Manaki nods determined

"Yes, I'll do anything if it means to become a better servant"

Galard gives another sigh and looks at Manaki with a sad expression, but gives in and summons several golems of his own, however, this ones are made of wood and plants

"Now it's time for my skill, [Savage garden]!"

He jumps on top of one of the Golems and after declaring this, his body starts to melt!

"W-what's going on?!"

I ask and Manaki nods

"That is Galard-san's skill, it allows him to fuse his body with the elements of nature itself in order to create a disguise, armor or even a escape route"

"W-what?! So he becomes one with his plants?"

"Yes, but even this skill has it's limits and his body can still be damaged if we hit the plants deep enough"

A laugh echoes from one of the wooden creatures

"That's right! So now we are fighting seriously, come at me!"

I feel Manaki tugging on my clothes to call my attention

"Ah, Manaki, so what's going to be the plan?"

She looks at Galard and says

"Tatseyo, I know you can't use your 100% right now, but that won't be needed, fight as you want to fight and I'll accompany you"

I look at her confused

"Eh? No plan? But-"

"Don't worry, I can keep up"

I reluctancly agree

"A-alright..."

We charge at Galard and his Golems, plants attack us fom everywhere and just like Manaki asked, I go all out, fighting the same way I fought with Galard

But only this time...

"Good work! Keep going, we are almost done"

"Guah! You really aren't taking easy on this old man!"

Our coordination is impeccable, no, maybe I should say that my compatibily with Manaki is great! It's like she's predicting my movements and thinking ahead of me to move accordingly!

"To your left!"

"R-right!"

I say as I throw a blast of energy at one of the Golems that was starting to rebuild itself

Manaki's movements are in an incredible resonance with mine, even her fighting style seems to be similar

"Now for the final blow!"

Manaki summons a huge energy sword that pierces the a hole in the Golem and I my energy travels through the sword, making it explode in pieces

"Agh! Alright, alright, you win!"

Galard says stepping out of the destroyed wooden creature and using his healing powers to regenerate his wounds

"You kids really don't take it easy even against an old man, kekeke"

He sounds happy about being beaten

"H-hey, Manaki, what was that? How did you managed to coordinate so well with me without any planning?"

She dispells the weapons that she was using and turns to me

"My [Sinchronicity] allows me to perfectly copy the fighting style and movements of my opponent as long as I use my psichometry on them at least once. I'm also able to copy their powers to some degree..."

A skill like that! Just like Mayumi, this ability is directly related to her fighting style, so that's how she was able to read my movements so easily! And I actually thought she was using the same powers as I did a few times.

"Our Manaki is the best when it comes to countering technique types, catching her by surprise is almost impossible and if you pair her up with Mayumi, who can read minds, they become almost invincible!"

Galard proudly declares and I nod agreeing with him

"That's trully amazing! So you were able to copy some of my powers as well? Like my telekinesis and energy manipulation?"

"It's not much, really, I can't copy things like someone else's [skill] and it's limited by my own power level, so even if I can copy your abilities I-"

I interrupt her, why does it seem like she's talking herself down?

"That doesn't matter at all! I think you are selling yourself short, that basically means you can use almost any ability? Including demonic powers, magic and even those sacred gear things?"

Manaki meekly nods

"Y-yeah, but I can't use it as good as the original owner and the power is also limited..."

She seems to have become flustered

"Does that even matter? I don't know anyone who can do something like it, not even Kuriko! Also, I don't think there are any espers out there who can use as many abilities as you are able to, just this fact is already impressive"

By what Galard told me, Manaki must have been training for a long time with him in order to be able to use all those skills and follow my pace so well

"W-well, I do train a lot b-but..."

"Tatseyo seems to be legimately impressed by your abilities, learn to receive a praise, would you?"

Galard says while smilling to her

Manaki becomes even more flustered and covers her face with her hair

"Th-thank you..."

Wow, that's the first time she actually showed emotions like this

"*Caham*... b-but you still have a long to way to go yet, I'll use the data I've collected about you to work on strategies and battle schemes that you can use to work on our team, we'll also work on your awareness, it's good but you can improve. I'll be excusing myself for a while if I'm not needed anymore"

Manaki says this as she regains her composure

"Ah, alright, it's almost time for me to go back to work anyway, we'll see you soon then"

"See you later, Manaki"

We wave goodbye to Manaki and she disappears in a magic circle

"Kekekekeke"

After that, Galard starts laughing and pokes me with his elbow

"Good work, that's what I was talking about, kakakaka!"

"Well, if I can do something for Liliana and all of you, I'll gladly help"

Galard nods

"It seems you haven't fully understood yet, but well, at least your head is in the right place, kakakakaka!"

 **Part 3**

Galard said he needed to go back to work and I went back by myself to Liliana's office, Mayumi and Aya-chan were also waiting for me

"Ah, Tatseyo-san!"

After seeing me, Aya rushes to my side

"Hey, Aya-chan, how was it?"

"It was great, I've been improving a lot, look!"

Aya starts to summon a miniature hurricane on the palm of her hand

"She has quite a good affinity with elemental magic, I think she has a lot of potential, fufufu"

Mayumi says and Aya-chan happily answers

"Yes! I'll grow even stronger to take down the Khaos Bri- w-woah!"

As Aya-chan starts to get pumped up, the small hurricane in her hand loses control and a strong gust of wind sweeps the room, making several objects fall to the ground

"A-ah! I'm so sorry!"

Aya says

"Fufufu, even though she still needs to have better control over it"

Mayumi starts to place things back to it's original place with her telekinesis while Aya-chan profusely apologizes to Liliana, who is saying 'it's fine, it's fine' while petting her head

"So you need to control your powers better too Aya-chan, my training was about that as well"

I say as I sit down

"Huh? You too, Tatseyo-san?"

"Balance and control are just as important as power itself, in order to control the 100%, Tatseyo will need to adapt himself to fight in a stable state instead of either using the bare minimun or exploding all out at once take over by his emotions"

I nod to Mayumi's explanation

"In order to do this, I think I'll have to develop my own style..."

I never had my own style of fighting, brute strength and doing whatever I fought would do most damage was my way, but I don't think I can keep that up if I want to trully master my 100%

"True, creating your own style is important, but controlling your own mind comes first"

Liliana answers me and I sigh

"You're right, heh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but sometimes having such enormous power is a mess, there are times I wish could be like Kuriko or Saiki-san and solve things out just by wearing a limiter"

"Yes, controlling your power can be a real pain sometimes..."

Liliana says this while spinning around one of the bracelets on her pulse and standing up

"But that's enough for today! Let's have dinner together before you return home!"

We all give a few laughs and Aya and I use the circle to go back to my house, or is it our house by now?

As I'm preparing myself to sleep, she walks into the room, already dressed in her gown

"Tatseyo-san?"

She seems like she wants to ask me something

"Yes, Aya-chan?"

"When I asked Galard-san and Mayumi-san what they were to Liliana-ane, they answered me that they were her servants..."

The evil pieces, an unbelivable system that uses cursed chess pieces to turn humans and other creatures into devils, granting them skills according to the piece and with that you become a servant for the owner of the piece, Liliana explained this system to me and as absurd as it sounds, it is true.

"Indeed, he is bound to her by this system they call evil piece, is that what you wanna know?"

To my surprise she shakes her head

"No, Mayumi-san explained it to me but what I wanna know is... are you going to become Liliana's servant too?"

I don't answer her immediately, thinking about it for a while. As things are now, I'm basically depending on Liliana to know more about this new world and my own power, but I'm not officialy her servant, I didn't used her evil piece and, frankly, I've been avoiding to think about it.

I know that I don't wanna become a devil, no matter how tempting the offer may sound, I'm not ready to throw away my humanity and I dont know if I'll ever be.

"I'm not her servant, Liliana even told me she's not currently aiming for it"

During the mission where we rescued Aya and the other kids who had been kidnaped, Liliana told me she wasn't trying to convince me to be her servant... yet

"But why not? You don't like her or something?"

"It's not that simple..."

I don't know how to deliver it to her, Aya is also a non-human, I think that if I say that I don't want to become a servant because I don't want to stop being human, it might offend her, so I'm trying really hard to think of a way to say it in a way that doesn't hurt her

"Is it because she's a devil?"

I sigh, she's partly right, even though I don't think of Liliana and devils like her as enemies, it's hard for me to think of becoming one

"It's almost that... you see, Aya-chan, I'm an esper, that means since I was a kid I always had contact with the supernatural... and I always fought against it"

She's silently listening me to speak, it hurts me to say it to her, but it seems I don't have a choice

"As I already told you, before I came to Kuoh and met Liliana, I went around the whole country and even other countries hunting creatures that regular exorcists couldn't or wouldn't handle, I've always seem them as enemies, the church and other human organizations don't trust espers because they see us as an irregularity, so I never knew that there was such a deep hidden side to devils, even though I trust Liliana and want to be at her side, becoming a devil and forsaking humanity is just..."

"You don't see us as enemies, but you are not disgusted by us either, right?"

"Of course not! That's not the problem. Liliana said herself that I don't need to become a devil and that's what I want because I like humanity"

That's it, no matter how I can explain it, that's the truth

"You like... humanity?"

I nod

"You know Aya-chan, I told you about my mother and father..."

Aya nods

"Uhum, they are amazing people!"

"Damn right they are, back in the day where monsters roamed this world, my mom fought against them, she's a heroine who saved millions of people using her powers, even though she might say it was just for fame and money or to protect those who are important to her, I know she in fact liked to be a heroine and save others. My father is one of the most selfless man I know, 'Life is about helping others' is what he always tells me, he was the one who taught me to never use my powers against people, he loves humans dearly, he wouldn't hurt someone even if they hurt him, that's how serious he takes his powers"

I can see that Aya's eyes have taken a whole new glow, I think I managed to get it through her.

"Your parents really are incredible people, just like you"

She says that with a really big smile, I breath out in relieve

"And giving up on that, giving up on what I am is something that I don't want, being human is more than just a species to me, it's a crucial part of who I am"

I look at Aya-chan to see if she understands, she has a confused expression, but nods

"It's a bit complicated but... I think I can understand, humans, youkais, devils, angels, what you are is more than a denomination, it has meaning"

She says and I nod, she's starting to get it

"Yes, there are things I experienced and am able to experinece simply because I am human, even the devils in Kuoh academy know that, that's why they pretend to be human, but to me, pretending is not enough..."

"I see, sometimes I think how I would be if I wasn't a youkai, I suffered because of who I am, but I'm also happy to be who I am... guess I can sort of understand how Tatseyo-san feels"

I sigh and look at the ceiling

"Thanks, also, sometimes I woner that if I became a devil, what would the people I love think of me and what would I think of them? My family and friends, how would my relationship with them become?"

I kept thinking that the worst problem would be mom, but isn't that too simplistic? Father also faced demons and evil spirits in his life, would he really not care at all if I became a devil? What about Ayumu? And what about... me.

"Would I still be the same person?"

People change, that's one of the lessons I've learned from father, anyone can change and become a good person, or change and become a bad person. I don't think that was the case with Liliana's servants, but no one is the same, would I still be... me?

"I don't think that would happen"

"Huh?"

Aya says with a sweet smile on her face

"I don't think that will happen to you, because Tatseyo-san is a great person"

She says that with such a happy face, it weighs on me to retort her

"Thanks, but you barely know me Aya-chan, how can you believe so fiercely that I'm a good person?"

"No, I know you a lot Tatseyo-san you helped me when I was at the peak of my misery, you took me in, we'll go to the same school and you are doing your best to make me feel safe and help me. There is no way you are not a good person... that's why..."

She clutches her chest with her hand

"That's why I believe that no matter what, you'll still be yourself and the people around won't see you any different"

"Aya-chan..."

I don't know what to say

"Whatever you choose, I'll support you!"

I smile at her an caress her hair

"Thanks Aya-chan, this really means a lot to me"

Hearing what Aya said soothes my mind

"You're welcome, Tatseyo-san"

We stay silent for a while, none of us having anything more to say

I notice that her cheeks are a bit red, Of course she's embarassed! She's sitting right by my side on a bed while we are alone in the room! Damn I should have noticed it sooner!

"Tomorrow is your first day at school right? I think we should go to sleep"

Aya-chan nods, she still seems happy with the thought of going back to a normal life

"Yes, good night"

Tomorrow begins the weekend and we decided that Monday will be Aya's first day at Kuoh Academy, I hope it all goes well.

 **Afterword** : I'm really happy right now because my fic has become relevant enough not only in fanfiction .net but also in Wattpad, now if you search "Esper Devil" or "Tatseyo"on google you'll get my fic in both sites at the first page. Thanks to all the readers who helped this fic reach this state, I'm very thankful to all of you.


	30. Racing tracks

**Part 1**

This weekend, me and Aya-chan decided we would spend the two days with Liliana and her servants, training and studying about the world of religions and mythologies.

As expected, Aya-chan knows a lot more about all of this than I do, she grew surrounded by a traditional family that had contact with youkais like her and the Shinto religion, so I have to study much more than her, however, regarding battle skills, she's still severely lacking, so she's training much more to make it up for that.

"Regarding Sacred Gears, there are the ones you already know such as [Boosted Gear], [Divine Dividing] and [Sword Birth] and many others around the world, but the ones you should concern yourself with are the [Longinus]"

Liliana says, she explained to me all the 13 know Longinus in existence, including the [True Longinus] that seems to be in possession of the Hero Faction's leader, a chinese guy descendant from the hero Cao Cao.

"[Juggernaut Drive], [Truth Ideal] and [Breakdown the Beast]?"

I already understand the concept of Balance Breaker, but Liliana just introduced these new words and got me confused

"Those are cursed powers that were sealed inside certain Longinus, using such abilities can grant the user a power equivalent or even superior to a God or Maou"

I nod

"Cursed... that's dangerous... like the unknown percentage, right?"

Liliana tilts her head

"Not exactly, the unknown percentage didn't had any bad consequences besides losing control over yourself, these abilities, on the other hand, are also very powerful, but they need a sacrifice to be released"

I gulp down at her words and nervously ask

"S-sacrifice?"

She nods

"Using these powers can make you go on a rampage if you can't control them, but the most dangerous part is that they greatly consume stamina, magic energy or even lifespan, using it too much can literally kill the user, that's why it's considered forbidden"

I wide my eyes in surprise.

Sacrifice, to achieve an immense power, sacrifice is needed, wheter it's your sense of self, hair or even your life, power has it's costs.

"So that's why Issei didn't used that power against me?"

A power that can surpass gods, if he had used that, I would have been defeated without a doubt

Liliana nods

"Might be, but to him the situation would have been much worse if he had used it. You see, Seikiryuutei-kun has already used his Juggernaut Drive once and didn't recovered from the effects"

"He already used that power?!"

I ask, taken by surprise

"In a battle against the Khaos Brigade, he went insane and used it, however, Hyoudou is untalented, he is not like you, Vali Lucifer or Cao Cao, that can use their natural abilities and stamina to feed their sacred gears, so the JD consumed almost all of his lifespan, as he is now, using it only one more time would spell..."

Liliana makes a dramatic pause and lifts her finger with a creepy smile

"Death"

I stay in shock for a while, a dangerous curse that lives inside a Longinus that can give god-like power at the cost of your own natural strength or even your life

After the initial surprise, I start thinking about it

"So it's better to stop them from using it, right? Not only for the well being of my friends, like Issei, but also to avoid that our enemies, like Vali or Cao Cao, use them"

Liliana's expression brightens and she gives me a defiant smile

"Oh, so you want to stop them from using their cursed powers instead of wanting to clash them head on? That's an interesting approach"

I scratch my head

"Well... it's not like I want to fight a god-like being either, but... it's also good to avoid deaths, isn't it?"

Fighting a being that powerful, even if you can match it on equal terms, the destruction would be immeasurable, as someone who was raised among heroes, I simply can't help but think about the casualties this might cause

"The colateral damage from a fight like that might be too much..."

I say in a moody tone, but Liliana happily nods

"Fufufu, you really are interesting, Tatseyo"

I feel my face reddening and turn my eyes away

"T-thanks, but... is there even a way to do that?"

Liliana puts a hand under her chin and thinks for a while

"Hmmm, oh! I think there might be!"

She gets up from her chair and goes to a book shelf

"Some time ago, I received a few books from Azazel, that guy's a sacred gear freak, so there's gotta be something in there"

I stand up and walk behind her, there are a lot of books here

"Do you need help?"

She shakes her head

"No, no, it's alright"

She waves her hand and I stay back, watching her go through the vastitude of books in her office

"You and Azazel exchange information a lot?"

I ask in an attempt to make small talk as she searches for the book

"Not as much as we used to when we first met, Sacred gears are his thing, espers are mine, aside from curiosity, our interests are not very close. But a few years ago he gave me some books on Sacred Gears and I gave him some reports of my ESP research"

"I see, do you research that for a long time?"

Liliana nods, while stretching herself to reach for a book on a taller shelf

"A lot, even before I enrolled in college... ah, it's not here"

She says in a disappointed tone after putting back the book she had just reached for

"Maybe down here..."

Liliana lowers herself reaching for a lower shelf

"Ugh..."

I groam as I turn my head to the side to not look at her rear, today Liliana is wearing a leather skirt and a buttoned shirt, but she doesn't button it up so her cleavage is really exposed! No matter what Liliana wears, she always looks so erotic, I'm really doing my best to focus here!

"Y-you said you went to a college in the underworld?"

Liliana told me that the underworld is divided into the devil's territory and the fallen angel's territory, and that most of them live and conduct their business in there, so many things work just like in the human world (with the exception that they can use magic and occult technology, of course). I was very surprised when she told me this and it made me curious about how the education in the devil's world works

"Yes, I spent a few years there before graduating after my 16th birthday"

Graduated college at sixteen?!

"S-sixteen? How precocious were you?"

Either the devil's education system is far too different from the human's or Liliana is even more intelligent than I thought she was

"Fufufu, I had access to good education since I was little, you know, since I'm a noble and all, but people always tell me that I'm a genius, so I guess that must be true~"

She says with a playful voice, guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, she does own a casino and has her territory in a big city like Kuromaku

"Ah! I found it!"

She stands up with a thick book in her hands, there's some dust on it which she blows off and uses a handkerchief to clean

"With this, I think we can come up with a plan"

Liliana starts looking at the book with a pensative look

"Something wrong?"

"Well, actually... I've been thinking and since we are here, there's something I wanted to talk to you"

"Uh? Really? Well, whatever it is, just ask"

The dark skinned girl closes her eyes for a moment and says

"Tatseyo, I'm sure you know this, but the members of the current largest faction of the Khaos Brigade are all humans"

She says this and I immediately understand where she's going to

"You wanna know if I'm ready to use my powers to attack them..."

Liliana puts the book on a desk

"I've been trying to avoid touching this subject, but if we are going to fight against the Khaos Brigade, then we can't have you holding back, as you must know, psychic abilities are also related to the user's willpower. If you waver when it comes to fighting humans, then it won't be good for anyone but the enemy. What I'm trying to say is..."

She grabs my shoulders and her golden eyes stare deep at me

"Are you not willing to hurt other people even after everything you saw and heard?"

Liliana explained to me what the Hero Faction has been doing with their soldiers, sending them to fight devils, youkais and fallen angels in order to attain the [Balance Breaker], however, what they don't tell anyone is that the members who fail this and are unlucky enough to be captured are killed by a curse that they put on the soldiers. Which means that the Khaos Brigade is killing even the humans that work for them.

When I heard that, pilling it up with what happened to Aya-chan, it made my blood boil, I got pissed and thought of dozens of ways to kill Cao Cao, Georg and anyone else leading that shitty organization!

But after the anger faded away and I remembered my family, my teachers and everyone else, one quote kept hammering on my mind

I stare back at Liliana and reply

"Killing someone would make me just as bad as they are"

Liliana wides her eyes in surprise and lets go off my shoulders

"Tatseyo..."

I place my hand against my forehead

"Ever since learning the truth about devils and the other world, I couldn't stop imagining what would have happened if I had actually killed Rias, Sona and everyone else... I also can't help but think about how many innocents I could have slaughtered when I didn't knew about it"

Right now I'm saying something that I haven't told anyone else about

"All this killing I've been doing my entire life, now that I've started to perceive you and all the others as more than simple evil beings, it made me realize how much terror I must have brought upon you because of my ignorance, to me, your lifes now mean as much as a human's and I don't wish to end either "

This has been on the back of my mind for a long time, ever since Koneko told me about the near extinction of her race, but I shrugged it off as part of my work, they forgave me and now I'm trying to do what's right, but ignoring it is impossible now

"It's not that I don't want to make them pay for what they did, I cannot forgive what they've done, but... if possible, I don't wanna kill anyone"

Shit, I just showed something so miserable to Liliana

"Uh?" - I feel a warm feeling on my hand and turn to look

Liliana has taken my hand and is holding it gently

"I'm sorry Tatseyo, I had no idea you felt like this..."

I shake my head

"No, I'm sorry for telling you this, it's a matter of life and death, yet I'm having such unnecessary thoughts"

"Stop that!"

Liliana tightens her grip on my hand and says while lifting a finger at me

"Don't ever say you are sorry for standing to your morals!"

She says that with confidence in her voice, in a scolding, yet loving manner

My heart jumped for a moment and I gulp down

"Liliana... thank you"

When Liliana said that, she seemed to almost glow in front of me, was she always this beautiful?

No, no, what the hell am I thinking?! Liliana was already beautiful, wait, why am I thinking about this?

"You are a very nice person Tatseyo, don't worry, I'm sure we can find a way to stop them with as little bloodshed as possible"

She says smiling at me, goddamnit! I can't take my eyes away from her, she looks outstading now, what the hell!?

"Let's begin then~~"

Liliana takes me by the hand back to the chair and opens the book

There are a lot of aspects regarding Sacred Gears, apparently they are directly influenced by their user's emotions and will, just like esper abilities, and some even have the capabilities of performing miracles and things of the kind.

As we are reading through it, I noticed there's something weird on top of Liliana's hair

There's some dust on it, must have been from this book

"Ah..."

I reach my hand out and slide it across her silver-white hair in order to remove it

Man, Liliana's hair is so silky, it's almost as I'm sliding my fingers through real lines of some really nice fabric...

"T-Tatseyo?"

I hear Liliana's nervous voice and pull my hand immediately

"Sorry!"

I got carried away and stroke her hair for too long!

"I-it's okay, but you shouldn't be doing this right now, someone might walk in..."

She completely misunderstood my intention!

"I-I wasn't stroking your hair! There was just some dust on it, I was just taking it out!"

Liliana tilts her head

"Oh, that's it?"

She passes her hand through her hair

"Thanks then..."

She says with a somewhat... disappointed voice?

"Sorry for doing it without asking"

Liliana shakes her head

"No problem, in fact..."

A brown hand reaches for my hair and starts stroking it

"You have some on yours too~"

The silver haired girl giggles as she says this

"R-really?"

That's all I muster to say while controlling myself, it's obvious that there's nothing on my hair, but how can this feel so good? She's just stroking my hair!

Liliana doesn't answer me and instead turns to her book

"You know Tatseyo... girls don't let any guy caress their hair"

"W-what?"

She giggles without averting her eyes from the pages

"Who knows? Fufufu, anyway, we should keep studying"

She then throws me a glance with those golden eyes and an impish smile

"If you can keep your hands to yourself that is~ fufufu"

"I told you I wasn't!"

We managed to finish today's lesson and actually come up with a plan, even with Liliana's constant teasing...

 **Part 2**

After we finished things up, we were all playing cards while taking a break, except for Mayumi because... well, she can read minds so playing against her is impossible!

"HA! I won again!"

Liliana says as she collects the winnings, we are betting snacks instead of money and she has just cleaned me

"Heh, I think I'm out then"

The dark skinned girl laughs

"You are terrible at bluffing, Tatseyo! I can see right through ya, hahaha"

I sigh as I put my cards on the table

"I was never very good at this..."

Galard laughs, he, Diz and Manaki are also losing to Liliana

"Don't worry, Liliana-sama is just way too good at gambling"

Manaki nods

"Currently, the ratio between my victories and losses against her is 1:45"

She says while going through her cards, how many times have you played this game?!

"Well, you own a casino after all..."

I say, even though I haven't seem Liliana ever gamble against someone other than us, she's actually very good at this

"Liliana-ane is so good..."

Aya-chan says, she was the first one to be wiped clean

"Liliana-sama told us you developed a technique to deal with that shitty Juggernaut Drive?"

Diz asks while shuffling through her cards

I nod

"Yes, it's a bit complicated and it only works because of my abilities as an esper, but if push comes to shove, I think I might be able to at least deal with them without harming any bystanders"

According to the book, there are certain conditions to unleash the Juggernaut Drive, so we decided to attack this problem.

"Ara, so you are working on a way to stop it without having to fight it?"

Mayumi asks with a curious expression

"Yes, by what I was told, these forbidden powers can cause great damage just by being unleashed and also cause harm to the users themselves, I want to avoid casualties if possible"

At my explanation, Mayumi closes her eyes and smiles

"Avoid deaths at all costs, such a heroic thing to say, fufufu~"

She says with a playful tone and I feel a little embarassed

"I think Tatseyo is right, if deaths can be avoided, then it's for the best"

Galard answers, as expected of someone who once refused to use his powers for battle, he understands

"Heh, I particularly don't care, kill them or imprison them, those guys have it coming, the same for any asshole that tries to use a forbidden power like that"

Aren't you being a little too violent, Diz?

"I really don't like the Khaos Brigade, but if Tatseyo-san says it's to avoid colateral damage, then it's okay"

Aya-chan says with some bitterness in her voice, I guess she must hate them more than anyone in this room, I'm sorry for this, but I promise we'll make them pay for what they did one way or another

Manaki on the other hand just shrugs

"Whatever Liliana-sama decides, I'll follow"

Such a simple and loyal way of thinking!

"Fufufufu, I'm glad to see everyone's thinking about it~"

Liliana says laughing at our contrasting opinions, before putting her cards down and looking at me and Aya

"Hey, Aya-chan, Tatseyo, do you have any plans for this weekend?"

We look at each other and shake our heads

"No, we don't have anything special planned, why?"

Liliana smiles

"Then how about you two come to Tokyo with me?"

...

""What?!""

 **Part 3**

After Liliana explained where we were going, me and Aya agreed and the three of us took the train towards Tokyo

"So your family owns a horse racing track there and we are heading to check how things are going?"

The silver haired girl nods

"Yup, we can also take our time there to enjoy the weekend, my treat"

She gives me a wink

"B-but you were already so kind to us Liliana-ane, letting me borrow clothes and everything..."

"There's no problem, you can't use your training clothes in there and I had these in spare"

I'm wearing a black button shirt with long sleeves and dark social pants while Aya-chan is wearing a white frilly dress that Liliana borrowed her, it looks really cute

"Did you had clothes like these in spare?"

I ask, pointing at Aya-chan

Liliana laughs with 'fufufu'

"When I went shopping once I saw this dress and I thought it would look so cute on Aya-chan, so I just had to give it to her."

She says pinching Aya-chan's cheeks

"And you look so cute on it!"

"Wah! I'm not a doll, Liliana-ane!"

Aya-chan cries out embarassed, which just makes Liliana smile even broader, I can't help but think this is very cute too, sorry Aya-chan.

"Thanks, but you really needed us to scort you?"

"Usually I have Diz or Mayumi to go with me, but they need to work at the Casino and since you guys are free, I thought you would like to come. Also..."

She then strides closer and whispers in my ear

"Consider this as a payback for staring at my ass in the office~"

My eyes wide and I nearly fall backwards, how did she noticed that?

"I-I wasn't staring!"

"Hah~ so you admit you looked?~"

She gives a triumphant smile and I look away embarassed

"It wasn't on purpose..."

"Fufufu, girls have a sixth sense for that~"

"Sixth sense?"

Aya-chan asks and Liliana turns to her

"Oh, nothing, I'm just kidding with Tatseyo"

She waves it off, Liliana holds back in front of Aya-chan, almost as if she was a little sister to her. I think it's good since Aya probably wouldn't be able to deal with Liliana's teasing side

"Have you decided where you want to go, Aya-chan?"

Liliana asks the youkai girl, who nods excited

"There's a restaurant over there that I really want to check!"

Aya says showing us the map of Tokyo that she was seeing ever since before we entered the train

"Fufufu, alright, we are going to have dinner there then"

As the two girls are talking, I feel several eyes staring at us and stare back at the men in the subway, who immediately turn away

Are these guys a threat? Someone might think

But no, they are just regular people, the thing that they were looking at was...

"Is everything alright, Tatseyo-san?"

Aya-chan asks and I nod

"Yes, don't worry, Aya-chan"

Is at this two! Beauties like them will obviously draw attention!

Unlike Aya-chan's cute look, Liliana is wearing a striped blouse that leaves her shoulders exposed and a skirt, she looks great! I really can't blame the guys for looking at them, but at least try not to stare at! I know it's hard, but look away, alright?

"Fufufu, good boy"

Liliana says petting my head, I'm not your guard dog!

"What about you Tatseyo, wanna go somewhere too?"

I tilt my head

"Not really, I've been to Tokyo a few times, whether for work or leisure, there's almost nothing there I haven't seen yet"

Tokyo is Japan's biggest and most populated town, so of course a good part of my works in this country were over there, it was good since they usually payed more than usual.

"Actually, I've been curious about this horse racing track, I've never been to one before..."

I have no interest in gambling, so even though I've been to countries where gambling was legal, I've never been interested to spend time or money in those places, but ever since meeting Liliana, I've become more curious about it.

"Really?!"

Liliana asks with her eyes shining

"Y-yes, is it weird?"

She shakes her head

"Not at all! I'm going to teach you everything about gambling and horse racing!"

Liliana says pumped, she really does like things related to gamble, well it's part of her family business after all

"Horses, bikes, powerboats and motorbikes all have one thing in common in Japan, they're part of the small selection of sports that people can bet on. And it's very profitable, to give you an idea, in the year when japanese people were first allowed to make bets on foreign races..."

Liliana explains to us the market of horse racing in Japan, about the revenue, it's place on culture and the three main modalities of horse racing in the country. She went about that for almost the entire trip, during all this time, me and Aya didn't even interrupted her because we were completely taken back by her knowledge.

After some time, the train stopped and we made our way to the horse track by cab

"Wow, it's huge!"

Aya-chan says at the entrance

"Fufufu, it's one of the biggest racing tracks in Japan"

Liliana says confidently

When we walk through the entrance, while we are making our way to the crowd area, a man who was talking with some members of what seems to be the security staff noticed and started running towards us

"Who's that guy?"

I say pointing at his direction, the man wears a formal suit and seems to be here at work, but his appearance is truly something else.

He is definitely foreigner, by his looks I would say mediterranean, curly hair with a beard, very tall and his muscular shape is evident even with the clothes he's wearing.

Also, he's not human, but a devil with a very strong aura.

Even though he's currently giving off no hostility, I can tell that this guy is a warrior.

"Liliana-sama!"

The man calls Liliana out and she happily waves towards him.

"Mel~!"

...Mel?! Did she just called this huge man 'Mel'?

"It's been so long!"

Liliana jumps in to hug the man and then he stands in front us with a surprised expression.

"Did you came all the way here by order of Caim-sama?"

He asks and Liliana makes a displeased expression at hearing the name and shakes her head

"No, I actually came here out of my own volition... just to see how business are going and show off to my new friends, fufufu"

She motions her hand introducing us

"Ah, you're very welcome in here, but... you're not devils, are you?"

The man asks with a curious expression

"No, we aren't, my name is Tatseyo Kageyama, I'm an esper"

I say, if he knows Liliana, then he probably knows what an esper is

"I am Aya, a Koma Inu..."

Aya answers and the man formally bows to us

"Pleased to meet you, my name is Melankomas"

M-Melankomas?

He looks at me

"Esper? I see, that's just like Liliana-sama"

He says with a sigh and a smile, Liliana then tugs his sleeve and points at me

"Tatseyo is the son of the Kageyama family, you know?"

She says with an excited voice

"R-really? I'm happy to see that you have reached your go-"

Liliana then squeezes the man's cheeks together in a sign for him to stop

"D-don't say that!"

She answers him embarassed

"S-shorry..."

Liliana let's go off his face and answers

"Melankomas is my father's [Rook], sometimes he and the other servants come over to check how the family's business on the human world are going"

Liliana is a heir, just like Rias and Sona, so this guy is a servant of her father, the leader of the house of Caim.

This man is strong, but he surely is not an esper, just as Liliana told me, she's the only one interested about esper's on her family.

"Melankomas... like the greek boxer..."

I say it curiously and the man looks at me with a happy expression

"Gyahahahaha! So Liliana-sama's companion has heard about me? I'm flattered!"

So he's the real deal, Melankomas, the mythic greek boxer who developed his own fighting style, owned an incredible endurance and never lost a single fight

"T-the true Melankomas... why am I not surprised?"

I say with a nervous laugh, in this supernatural world there seems to be historical and mythologycal figures everywhere!

"Mel has been on my father's side for a very long time~"

Liliana says, of course it's a long time, considering that Melankomas was alive when the Roman empire still existed, but that just makes me wonder how old her father is!

Also, could you stop calling the legendary boxer 'Mel'?

Another loud laugh echoes from the man

"Kuhahahahaha! Indeed, I had the pleasure of being Caim-sama's servant for a long time and I've seen Liliana-sama grow into such a fine lady! Ah, I'm so happy!"

He says wiping the tears of his eyes

"Ara, don't say that, I'm going to blush~"

Liliana says while laughing

"To think that you would even bring your boyfriend along, please take good care of her"- He says bowing to me again

...

""EEEHHHH'"

Me and Aya wide our eyes, while Liliana freezes

"I-I'm not her boyfriend!" - I answer outloud

Melankomas tilts his head

"Oh... really? I'm very sorry then"

He says looking at me and at then at Liliana, who just then made an impish smile and looked towards me

Oh no, I know this face...

"Don't worry Mel, Tatseyo is not my boyfriend yet..."

She throws a long glance at me

"He's still on test~ Fufufufu"

She winks at him

"H-hey, don't go saying things like that in front of him! He'll totally have the wrong idea!"

Melankomas makes an impressed face

"I see, as expected of Liliana-sama"

He already got the wrong idea!

"Liliana! Don't make up things like that on your own!"

She laughs

"Sorry, sorry~~"

The huge fighter looks at the three of us with a troubled smile

"I'm glad to see that Liliana-sama made such nice friends, kakakakaka!"

Ugh, I really don't know how to answer this

After laughing, he makes a serious expression and turns to Liliana

"But Liliana-sama, I had no idea you would be here, you should have warned the House, we could have sent someone to catch you"

Liliana waves her hand with a carefree expression

"No need, we were able to arrive by train just fine~"

At Liliana's words, the man's eyes wide

"T-t-train?! You are the heiress of the Great President's House, you shouldn't be walking around in public transport!"

He says in a worried voice, I get that Liliana is underworld royalty, but what's so bad about public transport?

"Mou, why not? I didn't want to take the helicopter and teleportation removes all the fun of the trip"

"B-but Liliana-sama, what if someone tried to attack you? The terrorists are still out there!"

He's clearly worried about Liliana, they clearly know each other for quite some time, but she just laughs

"Fufufufu, you don't have to worry about that~"

"H-hey!"

Liliana embraces my arm and answers with a cheerful tone

"Tatseyo is very strong, I'm sure he will protect me, right?"

She looks at me with the smile of someone that's expecting an answer, I sigh and look away. I think I'm getting used to this, is it even a good thing?

"Of course I would, don't worry about that..."

Liliana giggles

"Fufufufu, see? I'm in good company, don't sweat it"

The man still seems concerned

"But still..."

"Also..."

Liliana interrupts further protests with her expression having become shadowed

"I don't feel like talking to father..."

I feel her embrace on my arm tightening, Liliana's voice became gloomy and heavy, her playful and cheerful tone from before gone in a flash

"Liliana? Are you alright?"

I ask and she nods, regaining her composure and smiling

"Uhum, I'm alright, thanks"

It's obvious that she isn't, but Melankomas just sighs and answers

"So things are still like that... well, as long as you're safe and working hard I-"

BUUUUUZZZZ

"Uh?"

A loud sound was heard and Liliana let go off my arm and stood on attention

"Ah! The race is about to start, let's go!"

She and Aya go running in the front

"Wait, Liliana-sama!"

The man calls her out and she turns back before running off again

"Sorry, we'll talk later!~~"

He sighs and makes a troubled smile

"S-sorry about this"

I apologize to him as I start walking towards the direction where Liliana and Aya ran off to

"Hey, Kageyama-dono, just one thing"

The boxer calls my attention

"Uh?"

I say turning towards him

"You seem to be someone Liliana-sama trusts, so please watch over her"

I give a meek smile and shake my head

"Heh, sorry, but I think you got it backwards, it's Liliana who has been aiding me ever since I got into this mess..."

It's no exaggeration, Liliana and her servants have been my greatest helpers in getting used to this new world.

Melankomas smiles and nods

"Liliana-sama is a very diligent and responsible girl, but even she needs someone to back her up, I don't know you well enough, Kageyama-dono, but I beg you to live up to the trust she has deposited on you"

I look silently at him for a while before nodding back

"Leave it to me, I own a lot to her after all"

I give him a thumbs up

"Hey, Tatseyo! Are you coming or what?"

I hear Liliana's voice and wave goodbye to the greek fighter

"Sorry, I have to go, it was a pleasure to meet you, Melankomas-san"

"Same for me, we'll see each other hopefully soon, Kageyama-dono"

He waves me goodbye and I run towards Liliana and Aya, this situation just seems completely out of a fairy tale! I just talked with the mythic boxer who was said to never have lost a fight and won battles without even throwing a single punch!

The race was about to start when me, Aya and Liliana got to our seats, we sat on a line that gave us a good view of the tracks

"Ah, there! It's about to start!"

The horses and jockeys seem to be in their positions

"Woah, the horses are so cute!"

Aya-chan says leaning forward on her seat

"This is the flat race, the standard one, right?" - I turn to ask Liliana

She explained to us about it during the train ride, there are three main race modalities in Japan, but this one, where the horses race on a flat track and the first nose to cross the finish line wins is the most popular, even I knew about this one, it's the type of race you often see in movies, games and comics.

"Very good, Tatseyo!"

Liliana praises me and lifts a finger to explain

"The bets on this one are usually the lowest values, but that's where most of the gamblers come from, look around: The average salarymen, all longing to feel the thrill of gambling and hopefully make some cash without having to bet their entire paychecks on it"

She's right, almost everyone in the crowd seems to be working men, with the exceptions of some women and a few mean looking guys giving off a weird aura surrounded by big men in suits.

"It's going to start!"

Before I can ask who those guys were, the signal to start the race is shot and the horses with their colorful jockeys on top start running like bullets towards the finishing line

"""""""""""""GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!""""""""""""""'

The loud cheerings from the crowd fill the whole arena as hooves leave dust behind

It's a tight race, with a black horse having taken the lead at first, then surpassed by a brownish one that's surpassed by a white one with black spots.

The announcer keeps narrating the race and the names of the horses as the top three fight to see who'll win.

Liliana doesn't seem to be cheering for anyone in particular, instead watching the race with an analytical expression, her golden eyes shifting from horse to horse as if making calculations

Aya seems to be a little nervous because of the loud audience, but is trying really hard to focus on the race

"I see, Black Ballad it is"

Liliana has a satisfied expression while looking to the big screen where the horses are being show

"You think he's going to win? He's got a bit far behind"

Black Ballad is the name of the black horse with a white sign on it's forehead that had taken the lead at first but now has fallen behind the brown and white one

She nods

"I'm sure he will, just watch"

The race goes on and just as it's approaching the end

[Black Ballad seems to have sprinted towards the finishing line, he's head-to-head with Tap Dancer and Cafe Laté!]

The narrator keeps shouting as the black horse approaches it's two rivals just seconds before the finishing line

""""""""""WOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!""""""""""""

The crowd goes wild as the three equines fight for the first place, but Black Ballad still seems to be having trouble keeping up with the two. In the end, Café along with Black Ballad seem to be losing their stamina

After some battle, Black Ballad and Tap Dancer cross the finishing line together, but the dark horse almost immediately stops right after, while the white one keeps running as if it hadn't depleted all of it's energy yet

"Heh, I gues you lost this one"

I say to Liliana, who returns me a smug smile

"Is that so?"

The narrator's voice ressounds through the speakers

[Since it was a very close race, we'll use the recording feature to decide the winner. The first horse to cross the finishing line was...]

Silence envelops the arena as the announcer makes a second of mystery before the definitive picture appears on the screen

[BLACK BALLAD BY A NOSE!]

Shouts of anger and disappointment, but also of joy, fill the arena and I feel a finger poking my cheek

"I told you, the first nose to cross wins~"

Liliana says and I can only look at her impressed

"Liliana-ane is amazing!"

Aya-chan says

"How did you..."

"Easy, probability is what decides who wins, knowing the horse's conditions helps to narrow down the possibilities, but in the final stretch it was decided by fate"

Liliana then tosses a coin up and grabs it

"And boy, I'm good at this"

She says confidently

"Heh, we should have betted on him then"

I say ironically and Liliana laughs

"I think people would be suspicious if I won at my own family's racing track"

We share a laugh and stand up ready to leave the area, when a voice calls out to us

"Lucky Liliana!"

Liliana hides her head between her shoulders

"Oh no, not this guy..."

I turn around and see one of the mean looking guys from before, he's surrounded by two pairs of brutes in suits and he's wearing a rather flamboyant suit with a top hat himself, I think I have seem this middle aged man somewhere, not in history books or anything, but on the TV or newspapers...

He gives off a strange vibe, but he's human, strange, but human

"Ah, Shinobu-san, enjoying the race?"

Liliana masks her bitter expression from a while ago with a smile and turns to the man

She seems to be familiar with him, however, she's still referring to him by the last name, unlike the man, who just called her by a strange nickname

"Shinobu-san? What's with the formality? C'mon, don't act like a stranger, these guys are just for decoration, hahaha!"

The man laughs and pokes one of his gorilas with the elbow, he then orders them to stay behind and catches up with Liliana and us

She gives him a troubled smile

"Understood, so how was it today, Hiroshi?"

She calls him by the first name and I rattle my brain trying to think where I've heard it before

He shows his ripped gambling ticket

"How do you think it was?"

Liliana gives a small laugh and says

"Streak of bad luck?"

The flamboyant middle-aged man sighs

"Not everyone has the blessings of lady luck like you, but I'm going to make it up for it, you'll see"

"Fufufu, I'm looking forward to have you on our casinos or tracks at anytime"

As they are talking to each other, I remember where I've heard his name before

"Hi-Hiroshi Shinobu?"

I ask to Liliana and she nods

"So you've heard about him?"

I nod and look at the man trying to hide my despise

"Yakuza..."

I say it under my breath

Hiroshi Shinobu is the newly named oyabun of the Kirotawa group, a large yakuza faction responsible for a wide range of felonies in many regions of the country

"Of course he heard about me! I can tell just by looking at him!"

The man says that and I raise an eyebrow, what does he mean by that?

"I won't be so impolite as to ask your real name, but how should I call you?"

An interrogation must have appeared over my head, I don't answer because I can't understand what he's talking about

I simply stare at the yakuza boss for a brief moment and shake the hand he just offered me

"My name is Tatseyo Kageyama, I'm here scorting Liliana-san and Aya-chan"

He wides his eyes and answers

"Ah, I see... straight to the point, just how I like it, you have a good eye for your men, Liliana"

He says and Liliana gives a troubled smile again, she seems to be rather uncomfortable around him, well, it's not like I'm rather fond of him either

"And I take it that this cute girl is Aya-chan? It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady"

"Y-yes, it's a pleasure to meet you too"

Aya doesn't seem to be aware of who the man is and politely answers him back

"Such a polite girl, you do have good companions, but..."

The man looks at me again and makes a worried expression

"To think that even Lucky Liliana herself would need a hitman by her side, times sure are changing..."

I wide my eyes at his words

"Hitman?!"

He thinks I'm an assassin!

Liliana laughs nervously and taps the man's shoulder

"Eh... Hiroshi, Tatseyo is not a hitman, he's an esper who's currently working with me"

Liliana explains to the man, she just told him I am an esper, but this guy is human, does he know about the supernatural world?

The yakuza looks surprised for an instant and doesn't say anything, he just turns to me and looks for a while, analyzing me head to toe, then looks back at Liliana

"Are you sure? He looks dangerous"

What do you mean, 'are you sure'?!

"I'm not a criminal!"

The yakuza gives out a laugh

"I know, neither am I! Hahahahaha!"

Ugh, this guy...

"Tatseyo got in trouble a while ago because he attacked the Gremory and Sitri peerages, so now he's helping us to tackle down the Khaos Brigade"

He wides his eyes and looks again at me with an impressed face

"Gremory and Sitri? Well, that means he is as strong as he seems?"

Liliana gives a proud smile and looks at me

"Even better"

I feel my face get red, why do you give me such a nice compliment in this situation!

The yakuza leader gives out a heartful laugh and pats my shoulder

"Any friend of the Lucky Lilly is a friend of mine, if you need something, don't be a stranger"

He says before calling out to the brutes that were waiting for him and heading out of the arena

"I hope I won't..."

I say it under my breath as I watch him leave

"So, 'Lucky Lilly'?"

I turn to Liliana and ask her

"Who was him, Liliana-ane?"

Aya-chan also questions her and Liliana sighs

"A guy I do business with, he's from the yakuza"

Liliana answers troubled and the green haired girl's eyes wide

"Ya-yakuza?! Why do you do business with him?"

"I've been meaning to ask that too, isn't he dangerous? And how did he knew about espers and the Khaos Brigade?"

Liliana puts her hand against her forehead and sighs

"He's one of the clients who has a pact with me and the house of Caim, that's how he has knowledge about the other world"

"A... pact?"

Me and Aya look at Liliana and she nods

"Part of a devil's work is to make pacts with people who have greed in their hearts, we give them leaflets like the one I gave you when we first met and they summon us to make their requests while paying a price"

Aya-chan is wide eyed and doesn't say anything.

I gulp down before asking

"...Price?"

Liliana gives a small laugh

"It's not what you are thinking, I'm talking about a real price, that can go from money to exchange of favors, it all depends on the person's value really"

I'm dumbfounded by this discovery, so there are people who have real pacts with a demon.

"That's why he had that weird feeling around him..."

The reason as to why I felt something was off about him was because of this.

"So you noticed it? As expected, people who make deals with a devil tend to become 'marked' by some kind of aura, I wonder if it's karma for making a pact with an evil being..."

Liliana says with a hand under her chin

"And what kind of... services the devils provide?"

I ask a bit scared of the answer I might hear and Liliana shrugs

"It all depends on what type of work the devil and it's servants are good at, there are some who do healing, training services, music, sexual services, hell, there are even some who act like buttlers"

Liliana says waving her hand

"The heavier the work, the greater the payment is and I don't think I need to say it, but criminals have some of the highest payment rates, after all, it's a risky group to work with. The house of Caim has a long story of working with troublesome people like gangsters, politicians and celebrities"

I stay silent for a moment, just staring at Liliana

"The servants? So Mayumi-san, Galard-san and all the others are on this too?"

Aya-chan asks worried and Liliana nods

"Yes, each of us provides different services regarding our own specialities, because of our success rates, they started calling me Lucky Liliana, whatever that means..."

"But why are you doing that? Those guys are..."

Just I'm about to start inquiring her about the reason to all of this, Liliana interrupts me

"Don't have the wrong idea, Tatseyo."

"Uh?"

I freeze for a moment, Liliana's eyes having become dull and cold

"Before anything, we devils aren't allowed to directly interfere in human issues, so don't think me or any of my servants go around doing dirty things as killing people, selling drugs or robbing for them"

Liliana's expression just now was a scary one, but I feel relieved by what she just told me

"Of course not, I know Liliana-ane wouldn't hurt anyone!"

Aya-chan says and Liliana looks at her and smiles, returning to her gentle mood

"We do help them with building their influence, network, strategy and business management. As for the service we did for Hiroshi..."

Liliana's expression becomes a sad smile

"You heard about the inner war his faction experienced after the death of it's former leader?"

I nod, after the death of it's former leader, the Kirotawa went into an inner quarrel about who would be the heir of it's chair, there was even news about a possible war, but in the end Hiroshi's faction won without major complications

"We were responsible for his rise to power"

"Y-you were what?!"

Liliana nods

"Tatseyo, Aya, you both know that I am a devil. That means I deal with people's selfish requests in exchange for material gain and greater influence, in order to become a respected devil, I must do these kind of deals and not show weakness, you are aware of that, right?"

We both nod meekly

Liliana is a devil, sometimes I end up forgetting about that, even if she's trying to save this world and help people like Aya, it's impossible to ask her to be completely good.

Liliana comes closer and pats my shoulder

"Good, but I also want you two to understand that I would never, ever, hurt an innocent person."

She says looking at me and then at Aya

"Hiroshi's rise to power helped to avoid a bloodshed and gave me influece over one of the largest criminal organizations in the country, I know he's still a criminal but this is also necessary for another important thing that's related to espers."

She lets go off my shoulder and asks me

"Tatseyo, Manaki told me she spoke to you about her past before becoming my servant, so you must know about it"

I wide my eyes in answer

"Esper criminals..."

Liliana nods and explains to us

"There are criminal organizations around the world recruiting espers and even smaller criminal groups and militias made entirely of people with special skills, in order to gather information about them, we must have contacts in the human underworld."

So even when doing her job as a devil she's still thinking about the approach between devils and espers and about helping other people

"Espers like Tatseyo-san? Are we going to fight against them too?"

Aya-chan asks and Liliana nods

"It is very possible, that's why, Tatseyo, we need you to be ready to fight against your own kind if necessary, you understand it, right?"

I clutch my fist tightly

"I understand, you are planning to catch the criminals who commit crimes in human society?"

For espers, using our powers against normal people is forbidden, unless there's immediate danger or someone's safety being threatened. But obviously there are espers who just say fuck it and use their powers to commit crimes or play 'vigilante', putting our identities at risk. Even if we have ways to enforce our rules, the esper community is not a nation-state, we try to gather as much as possible, but most espers around the world probably don't even know about our existence.

"Of course, I can't forgive people wasting their talents in a life of crime, fufufu~"

I give a bitter smile

Liliana is using her contacts with dangerous groups to further her influence and gather information about organizations that even us in the esper community have been troubled about how to deal with, she's a devil, but I want to help her in anyway I can, even if it clashes with the philosophy my family has taught me

"Then I promise I'll find a way to deal with them, even if they are humans like me, I won't let them escape"

Liliana and Aya smile at my resolve and the golden eyed girl bumps her fist into my chest

"You better!"

Even if I have to adapt myself, I will defeat the Khaos Brigade and I'll stand for my morals!

 **Afterword** : There you have it, criminals. One of the things that I'm curious about the DxD universe is which types of devils deal with the crime lords. Rias said that devils do services for greedy and sinful people, aren't criminals the greediest and sinfullest people of them all, willing to pay the highest? So this is another subject I'll be dealing with in this story and it will be directly related to the history of the characters, I hope you all enjoy.


	31. Hero meets Hero

**Part 1**

It was morning when Shigeo woke up and was greeted by a pair of emerald eyes looking at him

"So you finally woke up"

His wife was laid by his side smiling, even after all those years, the sight of her still made his heart skip

"Good morning, were you watching me sleep?"

"N-not a lot, I just woke up and you seemed tired, so I just thought I should let you rest a little longer, that's all"

Tatsumaki said a bit bashful while standing to sit on the bed, she was now wearing her underwear but he could definitely tell that she wasn't wearing _anything_ when they went to bed last night. Which means she probably dressed herself and was staring him for a while.

"For a guy who works out almost every day you surely got tired"

He smiled to himself, even after all these years of marriage and even a child together, she still retained a part of that tsundere behaviour from when they first met

"And whose fault is it?"

"Gyah!"

Tatsumaki yelped as her husband also sat on the bed and grabbed her from behind

"Mou, don't you have work today?"

She said embarassed, but happy to be cuddled

"Not today, do you wanna go somewhere?"

The green haired woman looked up and answered after kissing his cheek

"Sorry, I got a mission today, remember?"

Tatsumaki said escaping his grip and standing up. She was a high rank active member of the Esper Community, usually required to do works that most espers couldn't do even when banded together, so even if she wanted, refusing was not an option.

"Oh..."

Shigeo was a little disappointed, he knew that his wife wouldn't be happy at a normal job, she had been doing this all her life and was damn good at it, but it did made him sad when she had to go because another emergency had appeared.

"C'mon, don't give me this face!"

She said lifting his chin up

"I'll try to solve it as fast as I can so we can have some time together when I get back, okay?"

Her husband smiled and stood up

"Alright then!"

He hugged her and lifted her up, something he liked to do ever since they were dating

"H-hey, put me down! I gotta take a shower!"

"Hahahaha, sorry"

After he put her down, she strolled towards the bathroom

"I'm gonna make breakfast"

Shigeo said after getting dressed

"Thanks"

He heard his wife replying from the bathroom and made his way downstairs to the kitchen

While he was cooking, Shigeo felt a familiar presence getting close and a small green figure emerged from a nearby wall

"Hi Dimple, didn't Sensei needed you today?"

After deciding he would rather stay on earth than passing on, Dimple often ran errands with Reigen, who, everybody already knew, wasn't an esper himself.

"No, your brother is going with him this time"

Shigeo felt troubled, the spirit would often drop by when he had nothing else to do, but everytime he did it...

"Where's the midget by the way?"

This would happen, his wife and the evil spirit simply couldn't get along

"She's my wife, Dimple, please don't call her that"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, so she's not here?"

As if answering to his question, footsteps were heard coming towards the kitchen, Tatsumaki had already put on the dress she often used on her work ever since her Hero Association days

"We need to buy more sham-"

When the green haired woman strolled in and saw the little ghost talking to her husband, her expression took an 180 turn to total despise

"What is _that_ doing here?"

'Here we go again' - Shigeo thought to himself

"Who are you calling that?"

"I don't see any other floating booger in the kitchen besides you! Go away before you contaminate our food!"

"Who are you calling a booger, you halfling?"

"H-halfling?!"

Green aura started to envelop Tatsumaki's body as the atmosphere around her started to warp

"I'm going to erase you from this world!"

Not wanting to have a wall on their kitchen destroyed (again) Shigeo got between the two

"Calm down dear, here, have your coffee"

He handed a mug to his wife, who took it while calming her aura down

"Humph, I really don't know why you like that green little thing so much"

She said while looking behind Shigeo to glare sharply at the spirit

"Heh? What a coincidence, I thought the same thing when he married you!"

A tick appeared on Tatsumaki's forehead and the mug in her hand started to float in the air as well as the other objects in the kitchen

'This isn't good' - Shigeo thought as he used his own power to put the things back

"Calm down, let's try not to break the house today"

He said stroking her green hair

"Go sit down, I'll bring the food when it's done, alright?"

He said smiling and placing a hand over her shoulder

Tatsumaki looked at the green ghost and shrugged it off

"Hmph, fine!"

She turned back and walked over to the table, Mob gave a breath of relieve and looked at Dimple

"You have to stop doing this, one of these days she might erase you for real"

He said quietly so she wouldn't listen

"Meh, if I didn't got killed by you I won't get killed by her. Seriously, I don't know what you saw on that angry midget"

Dimple said in a barely audible voice

"I told you to not call her that, I really wish you two would get along"

Dimple snirked

"Heh, not happening"

Mob sighed, when Dimple first heard he was dating a powerful esper, the green spirit became overjoyed, maybe thinking that she would be the push Shigeo needed to finally start using his powers for himself, however, things went south pretty fast when they actually met.

Even though Mob had forgiven his former master for lying to him and Dimple for brainwashing people, his wife wasn't so kind and would often butt heads whenever they met.

"I'm being serious Dimple, you and sensei are important to me and she is..."

Mob looked with loving eyes towards the small green haired woman who was drinking coffee in the living room

"She is the woman I love"

"Shigeo..."

Dimple was always surprised to see Mob like this, to think that the dense kid who couldn't get a clue and be honest with his feelings would become this man, it actually made him feel a little proud to have witnessed it.

"Okay, I can try"

Shigeo smiled and thanked the spirit

"Actually, the Esper Community asked me to analyze a cursed weapon they found laying on a ruin, I would like if you could take a look at it and see if you can track it's source"

He asked, expecting that this would give him and his wife some time alone

"Huh? Alright, it's in your office, right?"

Shigeo noded

"Yes, thanks Dimple"

The spirit floated out of the room and Mob gave a breath of relieve. He was glad this meal wouldn't turn into a war zone

"Breakfast is ready!"

He said laying out the dishes on the table

Tatsumaki thanked and they both started eating, but Shigeo noticed there was something troubling his wife

"I'm sorry about Dimple, I didn't knew he would be coming over today"

Tatsumaki shook her head

"Don't worry, I'm not mad over it, really..."

Shigeo tilted his head, even if she said that, it still seemed like something was bothering her

"Are you worried about Tatseyo?"

Tatsumaki sighed

"J-just a bit, lately I've been feeling something weird..."

She had the power to sense if their loved ones were in the danger, that used to extend only to her sister, but after some time she became able to also feel if Tatseyo or even him were in danger

"Do you think he's in danger?"

"No, it's not that, he's our son after all!"

She said with a proud expression and then continued after blushing a little

"Also... if I thought he was in danger I would have t-told y-you..."

Shigeo almost had a nosebleed at that, even now he thought his wife was the cutest like this

"Everytime I call he seems eerie, almost as if he's hiding something, whenever I ask he just shrugs it off and says he's fine, but I'm starting to get worried..."

Mob grabbed her hand to reassure her

"I trust your instincts, but if he hasn't told us, then he probably has a reason for it"

Being raised as an esper, Tatseyo never had the life of a normal child and going to Kuoh town would be his first attempt at a normal life, even though his wife was the one that pushed them to accept it, over the suggestion of a leader in the esper community, she was still worried about him

"We raised him well, all we can do now is have some faith in our son, alright?"

"R-right"

She said while blushing, Mob again looked at the ground to supress a nosebleed.

DING DONG

""Huh?""

He and his wife inquired after hearing the doorbell sound

"Are you expecting someone?"

Shigeo asked his wife, who promptly denied

"No, do you think it's your brother?"

He shook his head

"Ritsu wouldn't come here without at least messaging me first"

Both looked at each other with the same suspicious look on their faces

""Let's chek the cameras""

They said at the same time and laughed a little at each other's answer

A few moments later they were looking at the screen to the front gate of their house, where a particular weird group of people were waiting

"Any friends of yours?"

Because of the clothes they were wearing, Shigeo thought they were his wife's friends from when she was a hero

"I've never seem these clowns in my life"

She said weirded out

"I see..."

Tatsumaki released her green aura and said nonchalantly

"Shall I crush them right now?"

Mob made a troubled face and put his hands forward

"I-I think I have a less violent idea, Dimple!"

He called out and the green spirit came down from the roof

"Hey Shigeo, what happened... huh?"

Dimple looked confused at the monitor

"Is the circus in town?"

"We don't know who these people are, could you go there to check if they are friends or foes?"

Shigeo asked and Dimple looked closer at the screen

"Heh, alright, if those guys want to stir trouble they would just end up dead anyway, better give them a chance to run"

Dimple floated out of the room and towards outside of the house

"Are you sure it's okay to send the booger to them?"

Tatsumaki asked

"I think it'll be fine, they are not espers, if Dimple runs into trouble he can just come back right away"

The couple looked at the screen for a few minutes and saw Dimple float towards the strange group that stood in front of their doorway

They didn't stir any trouble, the man that seemed to be leader spoke casually to Dimple, even going as far as bowing to the spirit, the camera didn't give any sounds, but by what both could see, none of them were giving off any signs of a menacing aura

After a while, Dimple came back, unharmed, but seemed to be very nervous

"What happened? Who are they?"

Tatsumaki asked and Dimple looked at Mob to answer

"Shigeo, those guys seem like a crazy bunch, the fact that they can see me shows that they are not normal, I was going to tell them to go away but..."

Dimple looked more nervous than before, it only made Mob feel even more at edge

"What did them said?"

Dimple gulped down and answered

"He said he wanted to talk about your son, Tatseyo"

Tatsumaki and Shigeo wided their eyes

"W-what?!"

The green haired girl exclamated and Dimple pleaded

"S-Shigeo, calm down..."

Now it was him that had his aura going all over the place, Tatsumaki wanted to do something to keep him under control but...

"Call them here, now!"

She was also enraged, there was no way she could ask her husband to hold back. Pressing a button, Shigeo opened the doors to their house and the group of five people made their way in.

"You got their interest buddy, just be ready for what's about to come"

Dimple warned them as he guided the group

They were received in the living room by an angry looking Tatsumaki and Shigeo

The leader of the group immediately bowed to them and the others followed his cue

"We are very pleased to finally meet you, Lady Tatsumaki, Kageyama-dono"

The youth spoke to them and was quickly answered

"Cut it, first of all who are you and how do you know us?"

Tatsumaki said sharply while glaring at the man with eyes that were ready to crush him at the slightest wrong move

The young man stood up

"I am very sorry, my name is Cao Cao and these are my companions, Heracles, Jeanne, Georg and Siegfried"

He said respectfully, but the answer only made the couple angrier

"Are you joking with me?" - Tatsumaki replied

"Huh? I'm sorry?"

"Oh boy, I told you to not say these stupid made up names in front of them..." - Dimple sayed with a sigh

Tatsumaki gritted her teeth

"I let you come into my house so that you can make jokes with us?!"

She immediately lifted her hand to blast them away, Cao Cao, aware of the danger that the woman presented, summoned his spear and prepared to take the hit

"Wait!"

A voice came from behind the group and when they turned around to see...

"Ugh!"

Shigeo, who hadn't said a word since the group came in, was already behind the group.

"W-when did he?"

Siegfried said, he never noticed even the slightest movement from the dark haired man

Placing his hand over Heracles's shoulder, Shigeo pushed him on one knee to the ground and a loud bang echoed through the house

"W-what is this?" - Heracles said in disbelieve

Their leader had warned them about the enormous powers of the couple they were about to talk with, but he simply couldn't believe that the man had completely immobilized half of his body simply by putting a hand over his shoulder

He could still move the other half, but something told him that if he dared to even try standing, he wouldn't make it out of this house alive

"We let you into our house because you said you knew our son, I don't care if you want to lie about your names, but stop joking and tell me what you have to say about my family before I kick you out. Our patience is wearing thin."

Shigeo and Tatsumaki's aura were flooding the entire room, the members of the Hero Faction could barely breath as the sheer pressure made them sweat cold. Aside from Cao Cao, all the other members felt so much fear that they could barely move.

"I am very sorry, we came here over the indication of one of your friends, he is an esper as well"

Cao Cao bowed deeply while putting his spear over his shoulder, he was treating the couple with utmost respect not only because he knew their history, but also out of fear for the life of himself and his companions

The couple looked at him with a sharp glance

"I believe we started things with the wrong foot, but I assure you that we have absolutely no ill intention towards you or your family"

Heracles could feel the grip on his shoulder starting to loose after Shigeo listened to Cao Cao's words, but he still didn't dared to move a muscle

"Then what do you want?"

Tatsumaki asked impatiently

"Your son saved some of my men a while ago and I never had the chance to repay him, however, now I believe that he could be in a dangerous position and we can help him now"

Shigeo and Tatsumaki exchanged stares

"Tatseyo saved you? When?"

Mob asked and the leader of the Hero Faction smiled

"A while ago a group of my men were fighting demons in Kuoh town and your son came to rescue them"

Tatsumaki's eyes wided

"K-Kuoh town?!"

She clutched her fist

"I knew there was something wrong!"

Shigeo looked over at Cao Cao and asked

"Is my son in danger?"

The leader of the Hero Faction shook his head

"In short, no, he is not, but I do believe that he's in a risky situation right now and that we could help him"

"And why should we let you help him instead of going there ourselves?"

Tatsumaki said and Cao Cao turned to her and bowed again

"It is a very complicated situation, but if you two will allow me the honor, I can explain everything to you"

Mob and Tatsumaki again looked at each other, she wanted to blast them away from their house immediately, but Shigeo shook his head and released Heracles from his grip

"Let's listen to what they have to say dear, you did said that Tatseyo was acting weird"

His wife agreed reluctanly

"Very well... but you better have a very good explanation"

Cao Cao tapped his spear against his shoulder

"Thank you very much! I promise we won't disapoint you"

The green haired woman pointed at the group

"You said you were a team? And how do you call yourselves by the way?"

The other four members answered

""""We are the Hero Faction! It's a pleasure to meet you""""

They all said respectfully, which made Tatsumaki smile a little

"Heroes, huh?"

"Very, well, I guess we gonna need more plates then"

Mob said, preparing to gather more food for his new guests

 **Part 2**

 **Hero faction's hideout (Undisclosed location) - Several hours later**

"The devils from Kuoh town are still alive because they are holding the town hostage?"

Tatsumaki asked to the Hero Faction leader

"Yes, I believe that after they teleported him out of that factory, they tried to intimidate Kageyama-kun into cooperating with them by using the people of Kuoh town as hostages"

Cao Cao didn't knew that Tatseyo was currently working with Liliana Caim and her peerage, he only knew that even after the encounter with Tatseyo, all the devils of Kuoh town remained alive and well, but Tatseyo himself was also safe and sound. After discarding the possibility that he became a devil and noticing the lack of any activity involving him and the devils of the town, they contacted their allies in the esper community and drew the conclusion that Tatseyo avoided any fights over the fear that the devils would use the townsfolk against him, it was also what their contact in the esper community told them

"These devils are tricky, even if Tatseyo killed all of them at once, a member of their family could still cause trouble" - Jeanne said

"Well, it's either this or your son has started working with the Devils"

Siegfried said calmly but lowered his head after hearing a loud bang on the table

"Don't even think that! My son would never align himself with an evil being!"

Cao Cao tried to calm the esper hero

"We didn't mean to offend Lady Tatsumaki, there has been no visible activity of your son being involved with underworld beings, please don't take his words seriously"

Tatsumaki shrugged it off and led her hand on her chin

"It's alright, but I still don't understand why he didn't told anyone"

"I don't think this is true, Lady Tatsumaki"

Cao Cao said pushing a file towards her

"Huh? What's this?" - She asked while grabbing it

"A request from Ayumu Yatsushiro to go to Kuoh Town"

Tatsumaki's eyes wided in surprise as she read through it

"According to our source, this request was made after Kageyama-kun moved into Kuoh... and after he fought against Rias Gremory's and Sona Sitri's peerage."

Georg said adjusting his classes

"I-I see, so you think he requested her aid instead of telling us..."

She said in a disappointed voice

"I think that's to be expected from him, after all, boys and girls at this age all want to prove they can fight by themselves"

Jeanne said in a joking voice

Tatsumaki still had a bitter expression, but shook her head

"Jeane, Cao Cao, Heracles, Georg, I'm impressed that you are all heirs of legendary heroes."

She was changing the subject as to not think about what might be going on her son's head

'Let's trust the son we raised' - she was trying to focus on what her husband had told her

"Thank you very much, the esper community has also been aiding our efforts"

Cao Cao replied

"You said that he told you where to find us?"

"Yes ma'am, but please do not be mad at him, he said it was the only way he cold atone for putting Kageyama-kun in a dangerous situation"

Tatsumaki noded with a sarcastic smile

"That stupid guy, he was the one that suggested Kuoh Academy to us in the first place, to think he would have ties with people like you..."

"So, are you willing to join us on our mission?" - Heracles asked

Tatsumaki snirked

"That goes without saying, exterminating devils, monsters and youkais is my duty, but I never thought _you_ would be joining us... my dear husband"

She gave a smug smile at the man sitting beside her

"I was also quite surprised. By what I heard, Kageyama-san did not fought unless there was a serious threat at hand"

Cao Cao was genuinely impressed when Mob decided he would also go to the HQ after the meeting at their house, he was expecting to have Tatsumaki join them, or at least gain their support, but this exceed his expectations.

Shigeo simply noded with a serious expression

"Don't take me wrong, my desire is not the battle itself, I have no interest to test my powers or show how great humans are compared to the supernatural creatures. My only interest is to protect the others."

"Even so you seem pretty relaxed, even when your son is this kind of situation"

Tatsumaki said in a grumpy tone, to which Shigeo made a sad expression

"I don't know what is going on in that boy's head, but I trust my son and that Ayumu seems trustworthy, you know that they are not normal kids, just like us, remember?"

His wife pouted and crossed her arms

"M-maybe..."

"For the meantime, let's focus on what we can do. I believe that Cao Cao's plan might work."

She sighed

"Ah, okay, but he better be prepared to receive the scolding of a lifetime when this is over!"

She said and Shigeo gave a troubled smile before turning again to the heroes

He tapped the hologram they were looking at, it was the figure of a huge red dragon

"Biblical beings, pieces that can turn humans into devils and now even the Angels, whose existence I've never confirmed with my own eyes, are against us. This is truly a cruel world for humankind"

After hearing about the existence of Sacred Gears and the latest developments between the various factions, the esper couple couldn't help but fear for the future of this world.

"You said that if we are able to kill this "Great Red" and this "Ophis" then we can rid the world of all the evil creatures that plague it?"

Cao Cao nodded

"Yes, once they are down, it will be the proof that nothing can stand in our way, that humanity has triumphed over other existences"

Shigeo smiled

"A world without monsters and devils, is there a more beautiful one that we can strive for?"

His wife slushed over the table with an annoyed expression

"Well, it's going to be boring to have only evil spirits to exorcise"

She said looking at the green evil spirit that had come with them

"But I think I can live with that, fufufu~"

"Ugh"- Dimple strided closer to Mob

Shigeo continued without paying much attention to the spirit looking for cover

"When I was kid, I thought my powers were a curse, I wanted to get rid of them so I could live a normal life, but that is not possible, you cannot simply throw away talent you were born with. When I met my wife, I knew that our son would be powerful and that would bring trouble to him like it brought to us, I wished that he could live a normal, fulfilling life, but that was not possible either"

His wife smiled bitterly

"To be separated from my family, to be treated as an experiment and as a tool to fight monsters, that is a past I wish to forget, a time that I haven't even told my own son about. It is something I do not wish to anyone"

Shigeo took his wife's hand, he knew that all the suffering he went through was nothing compared to what had happened to her

"Sorry my dear, I think our date is going to be delayed"

The couple looked at the screen displaying the biblical monstrosity

All heroes present shivered in fear of the scary aura the couple was giving off, well, almost all of them.

Only Cao Cao was smiling without a care, knowing that with these two by his side, there would be nothing that could stop them now


	32. The defeated's aftermath

"One, two, three, four..."

In the Hyoudou's residence basement, the members of the Gremory peerage were doing their daily training

However, there was someone who was particularly invested into it

"Haaaaaa!"

[Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost!]

Hyoudou Issei charged ahead with his Scale Mail armor towards his sparring partner, Kiba Yuuto

The Knight swung his sword down at him, but the host of the Sekiryuutei dodged and aimed for his face

Kiba slightly moved his head to avoid the punch, but the pressure was still able to graze his skin

"You are growing a lot, Ise"

However, Issei didn't answered, charging a kick at the blonde boy

"Ugh"

Kiba defend the kick with his sword and jumped back

"Ise..."

Noticing the aura that he was giving, Kiba stared at his friend with eyes filled with sorrow

Even though he had personally asked Issei to fight as if they were in a real death battle, he could tell there was something more behind Issei's attacks

Beneath the armour, Hyoudou had a look of anger on his face, because everytime he punched, everytime he kicked, everytime he flied or used a Dragon Shot...

He couldn't forget that laugh

[It's useless, useless, useless!]

No matter what he did, he couldn't forget the humiliation he and his team suffered at the hands of Tatseyo Kageyama

[I've never trained in my entire life, I've been relying on talent and experience to get more used to my powers, like my parents]

Talent... something that he didn't have even though he was the host of the Sekiryuutei, something he had to make up for with sheer training and combat

Ever since losing to Tatseyo, not once, but twice, a single feeling filled his head everytime he trained or battled

 **Frustration, frustration, frustration, frustration, frustration, frustration**

The power to control matter and energy just by thinking about it, a power that even his fists couldn't reach and even if it reached, he wasn't strong enough to damage

Issei clutched his hands and charged ahead, battling his friend with reckless abandon for his own well being

[Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost!]

Even if he could forgive what Tatseyo had done, he couldn't forgive himself, he couldn't forget the humiliation that was to put all his strength in an attack and not even be able to scratch him

To see his friends fall one by one and feel the urge to sacrifice his own life in order to save them

'Stronger. I have to become stronger to surpass Vali, to surpass Sairaorg, to surpass _him_!'

Were the words that rang through his mind as he fought, Kiba eventually created a sword in his foot and finally managed to drive it in Issei's leg

"Are you alright?" - Kiba asked his injured friend

But he didn't answered, instead, ignoring the pain, he charged the jets on his back and drove his fists forward

[Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Boost Booost!]

Breaking his guard, his fist finally managed to hit Kiba's stomach and blow him backwards

"Guh!" - Blood spat out Kiba's mouth as he almost fell to his knees due to the pain

Issei removed the sword from his leg and stood on his fighting stance

"I can still fight, so let's continue!"

Kiba made a bitter smile, he wasn't happy to see his friend like this, but he knew the reason behind this behaviour. Everyone in the Gremory peerage was ashamed because of what had happened, but Issei, maybe due to his pride as a dragon, was the one who had become most obsessed about it

It seemed that now his friend had another rival to surpass

"Understood"

He created another sword in his hand and prepared for another round

"Wait, Ise-san! At least let me heal your leg"

The voice of their cute blonde bishop called out, Asia would usually heal major wounds or stop bleedings during their trainings, but Issei shook his head, not even looking away from Kiba

"I'm sorry Asia, but if I'm going to fight against him again, I can't rely on any healing!"

Asia's eyes wided at his refusal, if Issei was refusing healing, then there could be only one person he could be talking about

"T-then Kiba-san!" - She turned towards the Knight who had blood coming from his mouth, but he also denied

"Sorry Asia-chan, but Ise is right, if we can't even endure wounds like this without your healing, then we have no chance to survive against guys like him"

Kiba said straightforwardly, he was mad that he lost the fight, but most of all he was scared...

Scared that Tatseyo was not the only one, that there were other people like him that he said to be even stronger, scared of the people to who his speed didn't meant anything, people who could destroy someone like him with a sleight of their hands or simply by thinking about it

And that engraved fear, that despair he felt when his legs were broken and his swords used against him, was driving Kiba to try and become stronger

"Let's go!" - Issei said, charging ahead as the two began to fight again

"Kiba-kun, Ise-san..." - Asia said with her eyes moist

"Don't worry Asia, these two will still need you"

Xenovia, who had just ressumed her training, came towards her friend

"But to us, and specially to Issei, there's an opponent who tricks won't work against. And our only option is to endure the pain and get stronger"

Xenovia and Asia looked towards the intense battle between the boys

Meanwhile, something similar was occurring at the other side of town, in the Sitri territory

"Hey, Gen-chan, don't push yourself so hard..."

The Bishop of the team, Momo Hanakai warned the host of Vritra

"Don't worry, just come at me, all of you"

After an exhaustive muscle training, Saji was fighting against other members of the Sitri peerage in what he called a "friendly sparring"

Due to being a devil and thanks to his training, Saji's stamina was far greater than a regular human's, however

"Ah, ah...

Even he was already starting to get tired after all the practice, his breath was erratic and he was drenched in sweat

"A-are you sure?"

She asked, but another female answered decisively

"Yes! That's how I feel as well, let's fight till we can't move, Saji!"

Their Knight, Tsubasa Yura, jumped at Saji with her Sacred Gear in hand

Both started clashing with each other and Hanakai reluctantly joined the fight

"Saji is using much more physical attacks and his lines than Vritra's cursed flames"

Watching the fight, Shinra Tsubaki talked with her leader about the battle

"Indeed, I believe it's because of Kageyama-kun" - Sona said adjusting her glasses

After witnessing the terror of his powers, all members of the peerage seemed to have found a new determination, but Saji was completely headstruck in overcoming his burdens.

"Seriously, how long do they intend to hold a grudge against that boy?"

Shinra said, for someone who had come from an exorcist family and once had devils as her enemies, she understood Kageyama better than others and thought the behaviour that her juniors were showing was rather childish since Kageyama had already show regret for his actions and was now on their side.

But the president of the student council shook her head

"I do not believe they are doing this out of personal grudge for him, it's something that must be running deeper"

"Deeper?" - Shinra asked with a confused expression

"When you receive an attack like the ones we received, it gets stuck in your mind, for us who are in constant combat, that either destroys your fighting spirit or you cannot help but want more power, in some way, that kid and Sairaorg are very much alike"

"Sairaorg-san and Kageyama-kun..."

Shinra pondered for a moment over the meaning of her King's words, she didn't understood if that was a praise, a fearful declaration or both

"Does Sairaorg-san know about him?"

Sona shook her head

"No, just like Liliana-said, she kept it a secret from other devils, of course I had to report it to Maou Leviathan though..."

Sona said with a troubled expression, she still remembered how her sister took the news

[I'll find this human kid and tear him up! Esper, psychic or whatever, nobody hurts my Sona-tan! He'll feel the fury of the Magical Levia-Tan justice!]

She had to reason a lot with Serafall in order to prevent her Maou sister from coming to earth to hunt Kageyama

"Kageyama-kun doesn't know how close he was to seeing the wrath of a Maou..." - Sona said with a sigh

"But this is a bit problematic, for our team who focuses on strategy and tactics, having members pursuing raw power can break our coordination..."

Shinra stated, to which Sona simply smiled and looked at her members with a confident expression

"Well, then we are going to adapt our tactics to it"

She recognized that smile, it was the smile her King gave when she was planing for the future, a smile that usually terrorized even the other young devils

"Maybe that beating from Kageyama was a disguised blessing to all of us, fufufufu"

She said as she watched Saji, Tsubasa and Hanakai battle untill they could barely stand

'Kageyama-kun, it seems you have made rivals without even knowing it'

Shinra thought to herself, feeling sorry for Kageyama, but steeling her resolve at the same time.

As a member of the Sitri peerage, as Sona Sitri's [Queen], she couldn't get behind either

Healing, magic, tactics, miracles, nothing of the sort could defeat the monster in the form of a human that had arrived at Kuoh town, that was the decision that all who had fought him had reached, to them, the only path was to train, the only path was to become stronger so that they never would feel humiliation again!

And so the training from both peerages continued

 **Part 2**

"Azazel-sama? What are you doing?"

I hear the voice of my vice-governor calling me

"Ah, Shemhazai, I was just going through these files"

"Working on your sacred gears again? Please don't make any weird stuff like that giant mecha from before, you weird endeavors cause trouble to all of us, you know?"

He started lecturing me! Really, does everyone think of me like that?!

"Ugh! I'm not doing any of that! This is actually serious stuff!"

Hearing my exclamation, Shemhazai approaches and starts reading through the files on my screen

"Psychic powers? ESP? Are you interested in stuff like that?"

I shake my head and rest my chin against my hand

"Not really, this is actually from the reports a friend of mine gave me a while ago, I've been researching in order to find a satisfactory answer to something that has been troubling me for a while..."

He gives me a curious look

"And what is it that's troubling you? Something regarding the terrorists or your students?"

I nod

"It's the former... tell me Shemhazai, what do you think of the Gremory and Sitri peerages?"

My vice-governor thinks for a while before answering

"They are special kids, that everyone already knows, they went through many things during the last months, things that even adults like us would have a hard time coping with, and everytime they managed to not only win, but come out on top even stronger and more united"

I nod at his words, true, Ise, Rias, Sona, Saji and everyone in both teams is incredible in their own way, they have been acknowledged even by members of our once rival mythologies and none of them cares wicked feelings, they are truly a great generation for the underworld, something that could even be called... a miracle?

Shemhazai coughs to call my attention

"However, I believe that's not what you meant to ask of me, correct?"

I give a bitter smile and nod

"Sharp as always, tell me, what do you think of the Sekiryuutei's way of overcoming adversities?"

He blinks for a few seconds before putting his hand under his chin

"His way of fighting is, pretty straightforward, like his personality I guess. I've watched his rating games and it seems that no matter how badly they beat him up, he never stops fighting. If you ask my opinion about it, he's a good symbol for the underworld. Well, his obsession with breasts does worry me though..."

A troubled expression emerged on his face at the last remark

"You are right, the Oppai Dragon is a hero to the underworld now, even when he's fighting against enemies stronger than him, even when there seems to be no chance of victory, he charges forward, you might say that his obsession with breasts is a bad thing, but wasn't that what allowed him to perform so many miracles up untill now?"

"Well... guess this might be right, but Azazel-sama, please answer me properly, what is it that's worrying you?"

I scratch my chin and ask

"During some fights, Issei was able to perform what could be called a miracle, that boy and the ones around him all have an irregular growth that's nothing short of impressive. So why..."

I turn back and look at a particular file on my desk

"Why it didn't happen with him?"

Shemhazai takes a closer look at one of the documents

"Tatseyo Kageyama? The paranormal kid?"

I nod

"Rias Gremory and her group fought twice against him and by what they told me, none of those irregular occurrences that happen when her group is involved took place, it made me wonder why, is it because he's an esper? Because of that unbeliveable power he has? Or maybe... something else?"

[If you and Liliana-san hadn't showed up, Azazel-sensei, I would probably be dead by now]

Issei told me that with a complicated expression after waking up from his almost deadly battle against Tatseyo, to him, who was only forced to use the Juggernaut Drive in the peak of his despair, it must have been a truly hopeless situation.

"Huh? Is that what's bothering you?"

"Doesn't it bother you too?"

I ask and and he sighs

"Well, though I can say that it is weird that no irregular growth occured in her group, it wouldn't be the first time, right? There were fights in which their group wasn't able to show those so called 'miracles', this Kageyama kid, he seems to carry the sort of power that could stop that"

I tilt my head

"So not even miracles can defeat such an overwhelming power..."

I say, closing Tatseyo's school file

"But... where does all that power come from?"

"Isn't that what Liliana Caim should be looking for?"

I sigh

"Yes, it is, but I can't understand the things that she wrote here. I'm used to Sacred Gears, not this brain, soul and body stuff. Also, I could never understand what an esper is"

They are humans, yet they possess an overwhelming power capable of defying even the Heavenly Dragons, a power that derives not from logic such as magic and not from sheer imagination such as demonic power, but a power that comes from making things obey and appear to their will, almost as if they are ordering everything around with their thoughts.

Or at least that's what I got from reading Liliana's documents

"Well, there's no time to be thinking about this now, you still have to contact the youkai leaders in order to arrange the peace meetings, remember?"

I nod

"Yes, yes, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it"- I say as I stand from my desk and prepare to go back to my usual work as the leader of the fallen angels

But I can't shrug the feeling that something is weird about Tatseyo Kageyama

Espers, these frightening existences seem to be something that can bring trouble to all factions in the future.

 _Without Kageyama knowing, he was starting to become the object of interest and rivalry of several figures around him_


	33. New youkai in Kuoh

"Tatseyo-san, could you help me brush my hair?"

Aya asks while handing me a hairbrush

"Of course" - I say giving a small laugh

"What is it?"

"Are you really looking forward to school that much?"

She nods

"I never went to a normal school before, so I'm actually a little nervous too..."

I tap Aya's shoulder trying to reassure her

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine, my situation was kind of similar to yours and if there's any problem, I'll be there for you"

Hearing my words, Aya-chan smiles

"T-thank you"

I start brushing her hair

Today will be Aya-chan's first day at Kuoh Academy and she's fuzzing a lot over it, during the weekend she kept questioning me about it, even though I keep reassuring her that everything will be fine

"Tell me if I do something wrong"

I say as I brush the green waves of her hair

"It's alright, have you done it before?"

I shake my head, I never brushed a girl's hair before, but I did saw mom taking care of her hair and, well, they are very similar...

"No it's just that your hair is a lot like my mom's you know? The colour, the shape, it's all is very similar, though your hair is longer"

"Tatseyo-san's mother..."

Aya-chan says looking at the mirror with a pensative look

"She's very pretty"

I give a laugh at her reponse, Aya knows my mom and dad through a photo that I've showed her once. She thought mom was my little sister at first, I told her that it was okay saying it in front of me, but to never even mention that in front of mom if they meet someday.

"Yup, she's very pretty..."

I then squeeze her cheeks with my hands

"Just like you! Hahaha!"

After I let her go, Aya-chan pouts and answers with a flustered face

"Mou, Tatseyo-san, don't tease me like that!"

"Hahaha, sorry, sorry"

For some reason I liked doing this, hah, I wonder if Liliana and Mayumi's behaviour is starting to rub on me...

 **Part 2**

It's a beautiful day today, the sky is blue with very few clouds

"Ahaha!"

By my side there's a very cheerful Aya-chan, she's really hyped about it

In that matter we are completely different, I spent most of my life being home schooled and working as an esper, when mom finally decided I should have a normal education at least in the final years of school, I wasn't very excited. The thought of being a fish out of water kinda scared me, I had to hide my powers and try not to draw attention.

But in the end look where this got me, not only I'm involved in more paranormal shit than I ever was in my entire life, almost all of the school thinks I'm a deliquent because of my appearance.

Still, I'm happy. I managed to make some normal friends and after the initial shock, I'm getting used to this new world I've been introduced to.

The other students we meet on our way are throwing us very curious stares

It's obvious that a girl like Aya will draw attention, even if she's using magic to hide her tail, ears and horn, she's still a very cute girl, but I soon notice that's not the only problem here...

(Look, Kageyama is walking with that little girl)

(Eeeh, is she his sister?)

(No way, they are way too different!)

(Maybe she's his girlfriend? I've never seen her before)

(But she looks like a child!)

(Idiot! Do you think a deliquent like him cares? He must have devoured her like a wolf!)

What the hell is up with these conclusions! Do I really look like that to you?

"Hey, I can hear you!"

""""""Iiiiiiiiiiihhhhhhhh!""""""

The crowd dismiss and runs away

I sigh heavily, I'm really getting sick of this

Aya-chan has a confused expression

"Tatseyo-san, why were they talking those things about you?"

I sigh again before answering her

"Because I have a scary face, frankly, this is such a royal pain..."

Aya clings to my arm and looks at me

"I like your face! I don't think you're scary at all!"

I'm taken back by her reaction and put a hand on her head

She never fails to put a smile on my face, such a good girl!

"I know, this means a lot to me"

She smiles as I pet her, she's so cute! My anger totally disappears with Aya-chan's smile!

"Let's go, if we meet with Rias on the way, we can explain things to her before class starts"

"Yes, let's go!"

Everything was going on as usual, except that after we entered the school ground, Aya stopped and started sniffing the air

"Uh? Aya-chan, is something wrong?"

"T-this smell..."

She says while still sniffing the air, just like a dog that noticed something

"I know this smell!"

Aya-chan yells and her eyes gain a dangerous green glow and her teeth start to become sharp

"NEKOMATA!"

She jumps in front of me

"N-nekomata?"

I ask and she nods

"There's a nekomata in this school, I can sense it's smell"

Ah, she must be talking about Koneko-chan

Aya-chan then starts looking around

"Always stealing food and playing tricks, they are the worst! Be careful master!"

She says in a nervous tone, I guess her instincts as a protector are kicking in. Being sacred youkais means they get along with humans, but on the other hand it means they don't get along with other youkais who cause mischief to humans.

"Don't worry Aya-chan, you are probably just feeling the smell of Koneko-chan"

She throws me a confused look

"K-Koneko-chan?"

I nod

"In this school there's a little youkai girl just like you, she's one of the last nekoshou, I think she's going to be one of your classmates since you're both first years..."

"Me and a nekoshou? In the s-same class?"

She looks nervous, I really didn't thought this through, but a guardian dog youkai and a mischievous cat youkai really wouldn't get along

"Koneko-chan is a good girl, she's not a bad nekomata, I think you two will get along"

Aya-chan pouts for a moment

"Alright, if Tatseyo-san is saying it..."

She reluctantly agrees and we walk inside the highschool building area

Again, finding Rias is one of the easiest things in the world

"Hello, Rias-senpai"

She's talking with a group of other third-year girls, who tense up when they see me

"K-Kageyama!"

They exclamate, Rias however, only throws me a curious glance

"Ara, Kageyama-kun, did you need to talk with-"

Rias cuts her own sentence short after she sees the girl who is hiding behind my back

"Oh, you must be Aya-chan, correct?"

She addresses the green haired girl who meekly nods

"Y-yeah..."

Seeing Aya behind my back, the girls talking to Rias look surprised

"Ah, what a cute girl!"

"Are you a new student?"

Aya-chan shyly grabs into my clothes

"Y-yes, please look after me"

She politely greets and I pet her head

"She's my cousin, Aya-chan is going to start attending the first year from now on"

An interrogation appears on the heads of the two girls

"Cousin?"

"Kageyama's cousin?"

They look at Aya-chan and then at me

...

Then at Aya-chan, then at me

...

Then at Aya-chan and at me again

I feel a tick appearing on my forehead

"Stop doing this!"

"Kyah! Sorry!"

They exclamate with frightened expressions

"Fufufu"

Rias is laughing at the situtation, this ain't funny!

"It's a third degree thing..."

I say putting my hand against my forehead

I said that she was my cousin at the heat of the moment, I really should have thought this through

"Fufufu, so Aya-chan, are you liking Kuoh town?"

"Y-yes, thanks for letting me stay" - Aya says getting out of my back and properly greeting Rias

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be safe here"

The two girls throw us curious glances, but before any question can be issued, Rias speaks

"Well, why don't you take Aya-chan to class, Tatseyo? Class is about to begin, we should head to mine too"

I look at my phone and she's right, it's almost time for class

"Ah, damn, you're right, let's go Aya-chan, see you later Rias-senpai!"

I wave her goodbye and take Aya-chan by the hand towards the first year classroom

When we arrive there, several first years are talking

"Woah, look at that girl!"

"She's so cute! Is she the new student we were warned about?"

"She looks half-foreign! I'm so happy that we are receiving a new foreign student after Gya-kun!"

She's talking about Gasper, well, if Aya can become as popular as him, then it won't be a problem

"Uh..."

Aya-chan seems nervous and grabs tighter on my sleeve

"Don't worry, Aya-chan"

I say as I pet her head, the compliments towards her are actually a good thing, however...

"Iiih, isn't that the second year deliquent?"

Ah shit, here we go again...

"I heard that he intimidates even the Student Council"

"They say he can break your bones without even touching you!"

Hey, hey, hey! That's actually very close to the truth, who told you that?!

"Aya-chan, don't be shy, go make some friends, alright?"

I leave her at the front door and she takes a deep breath before asserting it with a 'yes!' and entering the classroom

I stay hidden to observe how things will play out

Right after she takes a seat, several girls and a few boys surround her and start making all sorts of questions

I thought that I should step in, but even though she looks nervous, Aya is actually handling it quite well!

"Yes, I was born and raised there"

"I love it! I could eat it everyday!"

"Thanks, I got it from my mom, hahaha!"

I smile seeing her answer all the questions like this, I think about leaving, but then I see a head standing up in the middle of the class

At this motion, Aya stops talking and stands on alert

"Oh no..."

I say as she starts sniffing the air like a hound dog

"Eh? Aya-chan, is everything alright?"

One of her classmates asks

"Y-yeah, it's just..."

She keeps sniffing the air with a concerned expression

"Is something smelling bad? I'm pretty sure we had cleaning duty yesterday"

One of them says

"No, it's-"

Aya stops when her eyes and the eyes of the small figure that had approached her desk meet

"You must be Aya-chan"

The white haired school mascot, Koneko Toujou, says to her while extending a hand

"..."

Aya looks firmly at Koneko's eyes for a long and uncomfortable moment, both have an intimidating look in their eyes

"So you two know each other?"

A classmate asks, seemingly unaware of the huge hostility

"No, but Tatseyo-san told me about you"

"Rias-senpai told me about you too"

They both answer without adverting their eyes from each other, the atmosphere around them is warping! It's actually warping!

"It's nice to meet you"

"Equally"

They say this, but it's clear that they are not even a bit happy at being close to each other!

Aya extends her hand and shakes Koneko's

 _CRACK CRACK_

Veins! There are veins popping from their hands! How much strength are you two putting on this handshake?!

"Hah, it's good to see two popular girls getting along" - One of them says and the others start laughing

Getting along my foot! How can't you see that these two are an inch from getting at each other's throats?!

Hey, where's Gasper by the way? Shouldn't that hikikomori vampire try doing something here?

"Uah... scary..."

When I turn to look, he's curling himself in a corner of the classroom covering his head with his hands! You good for nothing crossdressing vampire! I should have hit your harder when I had the chance!

I think about going inside the classroom, but that would just make things even more troublesome, also, it's almost time for class, I should really get going

I walk away from the class with my head still on Aya-chan, I hope things won't get too crazy between her and Koneko...

Once I get inside my own classroom, I'm greeted by my usual trio of friends

"Hey, Tatseyo! I heard you were walking with a cute green haired girl by your side, was she Aya-chan?"

Kanae asks and I nod

"Yes, that was her, I just went to the first year classroom, she's at the same class as Koneko and Gasper by the way"

"Oh! That's awesome! If she's in the same class as them we might be witnessing the birth of a new popular first year trio, aren't you happy Kageyama?" - Eizo says cheerfully

"Maybe she won't like the attention though" - Koji carefully states

I shake my head

"No, I think it's good if she gets to make friends, it's just..."

I then think about the scene in her classroom, it's going to be really troublesome if she and Koneko can't get along

"What is it?" - I hear Kanae asking

"No, it's nothing"

It would be impossible to explain to them why there would even be a rivalry between the two in the first place, so I decide to shut up about it

"Hey, Kageyama-kun"

Oh no, this voice...

I definitely know this voice

I've been able to avoid her untill now, but it seems that my time has come

"What do you want, Kiryuu?"

The pervert glasses girl from our class, Aika Kiryuu, has finally decided to talk to me

My "bad boy" fame was enough to keep her away from me, but it seems that bringing Aya-chan along was the spark she needed to approach me

"Aw, don't be so cold towards your classmate, Kageyama-kun~"

She says in a cheerful tone

"Hey, Kiryuu, I wouldn't piss Tatseyo off if I were you"

Kanae warns her, but Kiryuu acts offended

"Eh, why do you think I would piss him off? I just want to know more about the cute little girl that says she's his cousin, that's all"

I sigh, she's not letting me off the hook untill she gets what she wants

"Tell me already, what do you wanna know?"

She makes an impish smile and answers

"I just wanna know if the most recent school idol, Aya-chan, is related to you"

I throw her an annoyed look, this girl spells more trouble than the pervert trio, unlike those three, people actually take her seriously sometimes

"Yeah, she's my cousin, why?"

She smirks

"Well~ I was just wondering if the school's deliquent is a cousin-con like everyone is thinking"

I choke at her words

"C-cousin-con?"

She nods and her glasses sparkle

"If the most scary boy in Kuoh academy suddenly arrives at school pampering a cute first year that he claims to be his cousin, of course this kind of rumour will be born"

I slap my hand against my forehead, how quick the assholes in this school are to create rumours? If you putted this much energy into your studies, Kuoh would be first rank in the nationals exam!

"W-well, it's weird that Tatseyo likes his cousin so much"

"Yeah, untill a week ago we didn't even knew she existed..."

You guys too?!

"Then suddenly, out of nowhere he shows up patting her head in front of everyone"

Wait, is everyone talking about that?!

"I'm not a cousin-con!"

I shout out, she's not even my real cousin!

"Aww, really?"

Kiryuu says with a disappointed voice and then gives a smirk

"But that's good, after all that means you won't mind if I hang around with her, do you?"

I turn to her, Kiryuu has a mischievous smile, maybe she's expecting that I would get jealous if someone tried to approach Aya-chan

"Of course not, it's good that Aya-chan will make new friends"

When I say this, Kiryuu and my trio of friends seem to have been taken back

"I actualy didn't expect this from you, Kageyama-kun... guess you are not that scary after all"

I nod

"I want this school to be good for Aya-chan, so I don't mind if she gets close to other people, but..."

I grab Kiryuu, who was just about to leave after losing interest on my reaction, by the wrist

Pulling her close to my face, I look her dead in the eye

"You better not teach any weird things to her, or so help me..."

Issei once complained about how Kiryuu was teaching indecent things to Asia and Xenovia, I don't care if he's okay with it, they do they, but there's no way I'll let this creepy glasses girl teach weird things to Aya-chan!

Kiryuu's face turns nervous, even though she's trying to keep her smile, she can't stop the cold sweat from running through her face

"Y-you seriously are scary..."

She pulls her hand away and I let her wrist go

"D-don't worry, I won't do any of that, besides, it's not me you have to be worried about"

She points with her eyes towards the pervert trio who, just like all the rest of the class, have been staring at us ever since Kiryuu approached my desk

I look back at her

"Point taken, but don't worry, I think they'll know better"

The glasses girl shrugs and stands up

"Suit yourself, see ya Kageyama-kun"

She goes back to her desk and I'm left with the whole class staring at me

"Do you all want something?!"

With this, everyone turns away

I sigh and lay my head against the desk hearing the words of my friends

"Cousin-con..."

"Definitely a cousin-con"

"Even if Tatseyo is a cousin-con, this authority of yours could really help at the Morals Comittee"

"Shut up! And I'm not a cousin-con!"

I reply exhausted

 **Part 3**

At lunch time, Aya-chan came to eat with us, I introduced her to Kanae, Koji and Eizo.

She told me she's getting along well with everyone

"What about Koneko-chan?"

Aya tilts her head

"She's cool, I guess..."

Her answer doesn't encourage me a lot, but I'm glad she's getting along with everyone else at least

When we open our boxes to eat, I thank Aya-chan

"Thanks for cooking for both of us again"

"No problem, it's the least I could do" - Aya answers cheerfully

"So you made this, Aya-chan?"

Koji asks and she nods

"Uhum, I'm used to cooking at home, so it's no trouble"

"Ah, getting a cute girl to cook for you everyday, I'm so jealous of you, Tatseyo" - Eizo says

"Yeah, a cute girl cooking you food, sharing your house, sleeping under the same roof..."

Kanae says and the three look at me with suspicious looks

They better not call me cousin-con again, or so help me...

"Tatseyo-san, some people in class were calling you a cousin-con, why were they calling you that?"

The four of us turn our heads to Aya, who makes a clueless expression

"Huh? What is it, is there something on my face?"

"""Pfff, hahahahaha!"""

The three of them start to laugh and I facepalm

It seems that Kiryuu won't be the one teaching weird stuff to Aya-chan


	34. A future newcomer

"Ugh, you are really getting better at this"

Diz says as she uses her powers to heal the injury I just gave her

"Honestly, I thought that after we trained a few times I would be able to get the hang of you, but it seems like it gets worse everytime"

She compliments me, in my base state we are almost equal in power, but if I use my 100%, she isn't able to give me any real injuries and I always win a matter of minutes if we fight seriously

However, Diz is also impressive for being able to withstand more than one of my serious attacks without being defeated

"Thanks, but I'm still nowhere near as good as you in this taijustsu stuff"

Lately, I've been getting the hang of hand-to-hand combat, Diz has pushing me to work out and teaching me martial arts to combine them with my esper abilities

"Tsk, no need to be modest, as expected of a Kageyama you grew a lot in just a few days of training, it's something to be proud"

"T-thanks"

I say a little embarassed

"And how is that new technique of yours? Any improvements?"

I nod

"Yes, I've been getting better at it, though it still pains me a little to be copying something that my father's enemy used to do..."

"I don't see any trouble, it's not like you'll be using it for the same purposes anyway"

"Guess you are right, but I have all of you to thank for that, if it wasn't for this training, I proably would have took a lot longer to realize how to do it"

Mayumi has been aiding with developing new techniques and focus, Galard and Manaki have been helping me in control, teamwork and sustaining my energy while Diz has been training me physically in order to increase my own balance, thanks to all of them I've been able to increase my mastery over this new technique

"I didn't knew physical training could have so much to do with it, center of gravity training is something that never even crossed my mind"

The training I've been doing with Diz is different from average physical training, she has been doing exercises that put to use the full structure of my body and test my balance by using my center of gravity, that way it not only improves my strength, but I've been feeling that my sense of balance has improved quite a lot

"Compliments won't make me go easier on you"

Diz says with a mocking expression and I chuckle before answering

"No, serious, I really mean it, thank you"

When I say this, Diz turns her face and replies in a barely audible voice

"Y-you're welcome..."

She says and then proceeds to finish her drink

"Ah, this is really good!"

Diz is currently wearing spandex pants and a tanktop, whenever we train I can't help but admire her body... n-not in a sexual way!

You see, she is incredibly well built, even though she has a bishoujo face and great curves, her muscles and height would easily make her a beast in combat even without using any of her powers

And as a guy, well...

Everytime I look at her I feel a bit of... jealousy? Oh well, it is jealously, no matter how I put it.

It's like she was draw in Araki's style at Stardust Crusaders and I was draw in the Jojolion style!

I know it's stupid, I barely worked out in my life, because I never actually needed it, but any guy would feel weird in this situation

As I'm wondering about this stuff, Diz looks at me with her face reddened

"W-what are you looking at?!"

I put my hands forward

"S-sorry! I was just thinking about how much training you must have done to keep your build, that's all!"

After I say this, Diz puts her bottle down and sighs

"I see... I'm Liliana-sama's [Rook], I've never been very good at other things besides fighting, so I have to try my hardest to become stronger"

She smiles at me, but it's a forced smile, I can tell there's a hint of sadness behind it

"It's not normal for a girl to be strong like this, it grosses you out, right?"

"Of course not!"

I blurt out, there's no way I'm grossed by her!

Diz is taken back and looks at me surprised

"I think you look amazing and I'm impressed by the work you put into it! In fact, I'm even a little jealous of it!"

She stays silent for a while, her red eyes wide and staring at me

Did I go too far? Maybe it sounded weird?

"Talking like this about a girl's body, you pervert..."

So I did end up sounding weird! Ah, I wanna shove my head in a hole!

"But... thank you"

She smiles at me, a genuine smile that doesn't really suit a tough girl like her, but makes me glad I'm able to see it

"So you wanna grow some muscle, huh?"

"H-hey!"

Diz puts a hand over my shoulder and pulls me in a hold while she starts messing with my hair

"Then we're going to train for real right now, be ready to face hell!"

Ah, why do I think I made a mistake telling her that?

 **Part 2**

"Ugh, I'm beat"

Diz really pulled the shit out of me in the training, she even gave me a training regimen for me to do at home

"I don't think I'm going to survive this..."

I say as I make my way to another section of the training grounds where Aya and Mayumi are supposed to be at

Actually, thinking about it now, this will be the first time I'll see Aya-chan's training first-hand, she only talks about it sometimes, but it seems like they are going pretty hard on her

 _VOOOOOM_

A strong gust of wind blows and I hear a loud noise

"W-what was that?"

I fly towards the direction of the noise and when I arrive at the place

"Fufufu, Aya-chan, you really are improving, last time you were barely able to stand an attack like this"

Mayumi is in front of a destroyed patch of land where Aya-chan is standing, she seems to be injured!

"Thank you, Mayumi-san, I'm glad to see all of this is paying off!"

Aya-chan says as she jumps into the air and several maigc cyrcles appear

Youjustsu, a special type of magic unique to youkais, since Aya is from a guardian youkai species, she seems to have an aptitude for defensive and reinforcement abilities

"Haaa!"

She yells as bursts of different magic attributes fly towards Mayumi

"Fufufu, you are good, but onee-san here still has trickes up her sleeve!"

The wind beneath Mayumi proples her upwards as she doges some of the attacks and uses blades made from air itself to cut through Aya's attacks

So this is the kind of training they are having?! It's way too intense! Aya-chan seems to be getting hurt for real!

Galard is standing a few feet away from the fight, watching it, so I land close to him

"Hah, Tatseyo, so you and Diz have finished your training?"

"Yeah, but what the hell is going on here?"

I ask nervous, this training looks way too serious for her!

"Well, this is Aya-chan's training"

He says nonchantly

"This is her usual training?"

Galard laughs

"I know, strange, right? But this was Aya's request herself"

He taps his cane on the floor

"[If I don't learn proper combat, I can't fight against the Khaos Brigade], were her words, since then we have been making a very tough training"

I look again at the battle, cuts have started appearing on Aya's skin and blood starts to leak

"S-so that was her choice..."

Aya chose this, a combat training that seems to be way too hard for someone with little combat experience like her, just to be able to fight against the Khaos Brigade

"She has a tremendous determination, this girl..."

Galard says

"Yes, indeed"

I say amazed, in fact, this even makes me feel kinda bad

Aya-chan seems to be bravely resisting while putting up a fight, she covers herself with Touki, so she's been learning Senjutsu too...

"Ara, you are wearing reinforcement spells combined with your touki? Nice move, but how do you deal with this?"

Mayumi teleports to Aya-chan's side and sends an array of wind attacks

The fight is incredibly tricky, from all the members of Liliana's peerage, Mayumi is definitely one of the hardest ones to fight, I have never fought with her, but the fact alone that she can read minds and teleport makes her an incredibly difficult opponent

However, even at a huge disavantage, Aya fights back, true to what Mayumi and Liliana said, she has an amazing talent for Youjutsu

After a while, the fight seems to have reached a conclusion, Aya became too tired to move and was sitting beneath a tree catching her breath

She's covered in bruises while Mayumi didn't received any injuries

Me and Galard approach them, when Aya sees me her eyes wide

"Tatseyo-san!" - She tries to stand up but limps and almost falls down

"H-hey! Easy there!"

I rush and help her stand up

"Ugh, I'm sorry... looks like I pushed myself too much"

Aya says with an awkward laugh

"Well, I guess it's time to do my thing"

Galard says and walks towards Aya-chan

"You fought very well today, here, let me see those wounds"

"Ah, thank you, Galard-san"

He kneels and starts healing her injuries

"I didn't knew you were doing such an extreme training"

It really surprised me, I knew Aya was training for combat, but not on this level

"T-thank you, but I still have a long way to go..."

She says with a bitter expression

"Ara, don't make this face, you are growing up very well, specially for someone who didn't know real combat untill a few weeks ago"

Mayumi says with a smile as Galard has finished the healing

I nod

"Mayumi is right, it's incredible that you are so talented at Youjutsu and Senjutsu"

"Thank you, I've trained with mom and dad sometimes..."

Aya-chan says with a bitter smile, she must be remembering her family

I pat her head

"I'm sure your parents would be proud to see you're growing strong"

Aya's face turns brighter at my words, but I scratch my cheek with a troubled expression

"Just don't push yourself too hard, alright? I get worried about you too"

"Y-yes, thank you"

Aya-chan says while blushing

"Fufufu, I see Tatseyo really treasures his little _cousin"_

"S-so you heard about that?"

I turn embarassed towards Mayumi who has a hand covering her giggles

"Of course~ I wonder if you would worry so much about me as well"

Mayumi comes closer to me

"I'm not your cousin, but I'm still a girl you know?"

She pokes me in the chest, how the hell am I supposed to answer to this?!

"Kakakakakaka!,"

I hear Galard's laughter, why do people seem to enjoy when I'm put into these situations?

"I'm a girl too!"

Aya stands up and hugs my arm

"H-hey Aya-chan is it okay for you to be standing up?"

Aya nods, she then pouts at Mayumi with tearful eyes

"I'm not Tatseyo-san's real cousin, so I wanna be treated like a girl too!"

What are you talking about?! Treated like a girl?

"I-if something happens, then of course I'll protect both of you! You are all important to me"

I say it without thinking, it seems such a cliché line that I feel embarassed right afterwards

Aya-chan hugs my arm tighter and her face went red

"Huh?"

But just then... a scene that I did not expect appeared in front of my eyes

"Are you alright, Mayumi?"

Her face went red? Mayumi's face? Am I really seeing this right?

She turns around and answers with her back turned to us

"Y-yes, I'm okay, y-you just said something that I didn't expect"

Eh, is it because I said something without thinking first? Is that how you get her off guard?

I made Mayumi blush?

"I'm going back now, you can call me if you need anything"

Mayumi says in a hurry and disappears before we can say anything, leaving me dumbfounded

"What was that..."

"Kakakaka, Mayumi does not react well to surprises"

Galard states while stroking his beard

"Telepaths usually have trouble when dealing with someone they can't predict, specially Mayumi, who uses her power almost all of the time"

A familiar voice says this, when I turn to look, it's Manaki!

"Hey, Manaki, what are you doing here?"

"Liliana-sama asked me to help you if you need something, since she is not here today"

Like she said, Liliana said she had to see a friend today so she wouldn't be able to make us company

"Well, since we are done with training for today, I thought about resting for a while"

"Me too.."

Aya-chan says with a tired expression

"I see, if you would like I could guide you to the casino's dining area, or would you rather go back to the office?"

I wide my eyes at her offer and when I look at Aya-chan, she has the same expression on her face

Truth be told, we haven't seem the casino's gambling area yet, it's making me curious now

"Do you want to see the casino, Aya-chan?"

She nods

"Yes!"

Manaki then makes an inviting gesture with her hand

"Then come with us"

 **Part 3**

Manaki and Galard lead us to the floors where the casino operates

We walk through an extremely fancy corridor decorated in bright colors

"Wow!"

What awaited us at the of the corridor was the Casino's gambling area

There are dazzling lights everywhere, music was playing as beautiful waitresses served drinks and food to well-dressed gamblers. Stairs leading up show us that there is even more to this place

Besides the music, voices from several people could be heard, we could barely make sense of anything as the voices and music were also mixed with the sounds coming from the gambling machines.

"Amazing..."

I've never been inside a real casino, but from what I've seen from movies, this wouldn't lose to any of them!

"Liliana-sama has contacts with casinos all over both worlds, the Dark Devil was designed by some of the most famous engineers and architects of the underworld"

I didn't even knew that, damn, Liliana is amazing

"If you are blown away by this, you should see the projects Caim-sama, Liliana's father, has been doing."

Galard says with a laugh and Manaki nods her head

"After the peace treaty, they have been doing projects with the fallen angels to build an entire gambling city in the underworld"

An entire gambling city?!

"Ahhh..."

When I look at Aya-chan, she has smoke coming out of her mouth and spinning eyes, has the ambient overwhelmed her already?!

"Aya-chan! Get a hold of yourself!"

I grab her by the shoulders and shake her

"Perhaps it would be better if we took Aya-chan to the restaurant area"

Manaki suggests

"Good idea"

We took Aya-chan to a fancy restaurant inside the casino

"Ahh, sorry, I was just too impressed by everything"

Aya-chan apologizes while drinking a glass of juice

"I didn't expect this place to be so..."

I don't have words to express my amazement

Galard laughs

"Hahaha, wait untill you've tasted the food, underworld culinary is top notch!"

He says while laughing, I had already tasted the casino's food from that night after we rescued Aya-chan, but the menu is huge! I could easily eat here for a month without ever repeating dishes

 _RING RING_

It's my phone

"Sorry, I gotta pick up"

My eyes wide when I look at the name on the screen

"Ayumu..."

"Oh, so it's the famous childhood friend Liliana was talking about?"

Galard asks

"Yes, sorry, but I have to answer it"

"Go ahead"

Manaki says and I accept the call

"Tachan?"

The unmistakable voice and the greeting that only she would call me reaches my ears from the other side of line

"Hi, Ayumu, how are you?" - I say, trying my best to keep cool

"Everything's fine, hey listen, I finally got permission to go to Kuoh town!"

She says in an energetic voice

"R-really? When are you coming?"

This is good news! When Ayumu arrives I can talk to her and decide how we are going to explain this situation to the esper community

"This weekend, I even got the tickets already!"

I smile a little at her words, for some reason, speaking to her just makes me feel more relaxed

"That's great, you already got my address, so I'll be waiting you"

"Yes, but... Tachan, is everything alright in there?"

She asks in a nervous tone

"Everything is fine in here, don't worry, once you arrive I promisse I'll explain everything to you"

I answer trying to ease her

"Okay, but take care, alright?"

"Yes, of course, you take care too, see you soon"

"See ya, Tachan"

We hang up and when I look back at them, Aya, Galard and Manaki have different reactions on their faces

"I see, so it's another girl like that..."

"Kakakaka, that's Tatseyo for you!"

"Guh, another girl, Tatseyo-san surely has a lot of options..." - Aya says with a troubled expression while finishing her juice

Hey, what are you all talking about?!

"She's just my friend we have nothing like... wait, is this really what we should be talking about? Ayumu is coming to town, shouldn't we warn Liliana?"

Manaki adjusts her glasses

"Yes, we should, she must be in the meeting, but I'll use a magic circle for contact so that we can at least send a message"

And so, the arrival of my childhood friend approached, I wonder how things are going to play out when she's finally here...


	35. Bad Omens

I, Liliana Caim, am currently traveling around another town to visit a very important friend of mine

We met a long time ago, after my debut in the youth rating games and it's become a regular thing for me to visit whenever an important event happens in my life or when something big is about to happen

However, this time I was the one who was invited

It surprised me, but apparently there has been something wrong going on for a while and they think I can help figure it out

I stop in front of the house's front gate, they have been living in this town since their teenage years and it's been a rather quiet one, very different from what I'm used to in Kuromaku, but it's a nice change

As I approach door of the residence, it swings open right away

I didn't rang the doorbell nor announced my presence in any way, this person doesn't need any warnings to know I'm here

"Lilly-chan!"

As expected, she already knew when I would arrive

This woman is an oracle, a person with the power to predict the future and find things or people even in far away places

I greet the blonde woman with tanned skin

"Hello, Aiura-san!"

She motions me to come inside

"Come in, come in~"

Aiura says as she leads me to the living room

The house she lives in is a simple two store house, it's furnished as normaly as any family home in Japan would be

By looking at it, you would never be able to tell that one of the most powerful oracles in the world lives here with her husband, one of the world's strongest espers

"Is Kusuo-san home?"

I ask, looking at a picture hanging in one of the walls

It's a family photo with 10 people on it

Aiura's parents, Kusuo-san's parents, his brother, his grandparents, Aiura-san, Kusuo-san and...

A girl with short pink hair very similar to Kusuo-san

Kuriko Saiki when she was still a child...

"No, he's currently at work, but I told him you would be coming today"

"Work, huh?"

Kageyama-san and Kusuo-san... why powerful male espers seem to always look for normal jobs? Will Tatseyo become like that eventually? I think it's such a waste...

"So, why did you called me here?"

Aiura pours a cup of tea for both of us and then sits down while giving a sigh, the look on her face went from happy to outright worried

"I'm really sorry to bother you about it, but we don't know anyone else we can ask for help anymore..."

I tilt my head in confusion

"Uh, is it that bad? What happened?"

I was honestly surprised when they called me to say they had a problem and needed my help, if it's something that even Kusuo-san can't solve, it must be truly huge

"Maybe it's better if I show you"

Aiura lifts herself from the chair and walks to a bunch of shelves where there is a round, transparent object lumped together with several books and strange artifacts

"A crystall ball..."

So she's going old-fashion

"Yes, this will help you understand"

Aiura places the ball in the table right in front of us

"As you know, my daughter usually doesn't stay at home ever since she went to college, frankly, that girl makes me worry so much..."

I don't know Kuriko Saiki very well in person, aside from being powerful and liking to mess with people, she doesn't talk with others a lot, so all I know is the information Aiura and Kusuo-san told me

She started communicating telepathicaly before she even spoke her first words and started demonstrating many psychic powers at a very early age, Aiura was overjoyed when she noticed that Kuriko had also inherited her prediction skills

However, unlike Kusuo-san, Kuriko doesn't care at all about receiving attention.

By the age of 8 she graduated from high school and got her first Phds at 15, she also won a fortune after solving a math problem that had troubled mathematicians for decades and worked for some time by the side of Kusuo-san's brother, Kusuke-san. She's very famous in the intelectual community of the human world, though she's not a common topic among regular people.

Kuriko also went around many parts of the world figthing spirits, demons, monsters, youkais and learning about the supernatural. That was around the time when I met her and the Saiki family, our relationship is still a secret from the esper community, of course.

But despite doing all that, no one outside the community knows she's paranormal, as she still follows the basic rules about not displaying her powers in front of normal people

'Strongest esper youth' - this was the title given to her, a very impressive girl indeed, but also a very troublesome one

"So sometimes I can't help but use my powers to keep track of her, I know it's wrong, but she's my daughter after all..."

Aiura seems to be a bit guilty saying that

"That's okay, being worried about their child is something that all parents do... or should do at least"

I try to comfort her but end up ranting a little the last part and Aiura gives me a sad smile

"So things in your house still are..."

Before she can finish, I shake my head

"Sorry, I got off track for a moment, please continue what you were saying"

After I apologize, Aiura blinks her eyes and sighs

"Well... the problem is that whenever I try to find her now, this is what I see..."

Aiura puts her hands around the crystal ball and a white mist appears inside of it

From inside that mist, what comes forward is...

...

...

Nothing?

"What happened?"

I ask and Aiura sighs

"That's the problem, lately I've been unable to find her. No matter when or how I use my powers, I can't see where she is"

I wide my eyes in surprise

Aiura might not have any kind of offensive abilities like Tatseyo, Lady Tatsumaki or her own husband, but her prediction and tracking abilities are one of the best in the entire world, even better than Kusuo-san's. She can find things without having any previous clue about it as long as she knows what to look for.

She even told me how she managed to use her powers to stalk Kusuo-san when they were teenagers. So if even her powers aren't able to track Kuriko, then what the hell is going on?

"What about Kusuo-san?"

She rubs her forehead

"He also tried, he used his clairvoyance, telepathy, psychometry, everything he could, however we still can't find her"

I scratch my head, my eyes now must be nearly popping out of my skull from confusion, if they cannot find her, then where in the world could she be?

"She hasn't told anything to anyone?"

Aiura shakes her head

"She has no friends and the only people close to her don't know anything"

"I-I see..."

Not a surprise, Kuriko isn't exactly a people person, also, if anyone knew where she was, Kusuo-san and Aiura would have found her already

"Oh!"

Suddenly a thought crosses my mind and I feel stupid for not asking before

"What is it? Have you thought of something?"

Aiura asks enthusiastically with a hopeful look on her face

"Couldn't this be Kusuke-san playing a joke on Kusuo-san? Didn't he used to do that all the time when they were young?"

Kusuke-san is Kusuo-san's older brother. Even though he has no psychic abilities, he is a genius that has surpassed human level a long time ago, he was the one that created Kusuo-san's and Kuriko's limiters and also created several devices aimed at their abilities

"It wouldn't be a surprise if that guy came up with some sort of device that affects your readings and was trying to pull a prank on you two, would it?"

Hearing my answer, Aiura's face turns gloomy again as she leans back on her chair and sighs

"Y-yeah, we already asked him, actually, darling interrogated him pretty hard..."

"W-what?"

I gulp down, not only because my only option left has vanished, but also because I can only imagine how being interrogated by Kusuo-san must be like

"Kusuke-san's work in the esper community is consuming all of his time and ever since you gave him access to demon technology he's been working on his inventions nonstop, he didn't even noticed that Kuriko disappeared"

"I-I see, sorry about that..."

Kusuke-san works with the esper community creating devices that help espers control and maximize their powers, I gave him some tools and tech made in the underworld as a thanks for crafting the jewelry I'm currently wearing, but now I'm wondering if that was a good idea after all...

"Do you think she could be in trouble?"

If it's come to this, maybe Kuriko somehow got herself in a troublesome situation somewhere and that's how she became out of reach, though I can't think of what could have caused it. As I said, that girl is very powerful, I can't imagine even the Maous being able to take her that easily.

[No, I don't think that's the case]

Answering my question, a male voice comes from our side

"K-Kusuo-san?!"

"Darling! Shouldn't you be at work?"

Aiura asks, standing up to greet the pink haired man wearing a business suit

[I am at work, this is an astral projection]

He says as he phases a hand through Aiura's face

[My physical body is in the company bathroom]

"Ah, I understand..."

I answer with a troubled expression, you really are a weird guy, Kusuo-san...

"So you don't think something has happened to her?"

I ask and Kusuo-san nods his head

[Our daughter is smart and strong, very strong, if anything had happened to her I'm sure she would have found a way to contact us]

Kusuo-san says putting his transluscent hand over Aiura's shoulder, even though he said that to me, it seems that those words were more aimed at calming Aiura

"Even so, I can't help but worry..." - She says with a bitter expression

I guess it can't be helped, even if their child is incredibly powerful, a mother will still be worried about them

Saiki-san gives a smile with a hint of sadness and looks up from his wife to me

[What's concerning me is that there have been more interferences than just with my daughter]

"Huh, more than that?"

Aiura nods

"Yes, lately there were a few times where my vision of the future has become blurry, the same thing has been happening to darling as well"

Kusuo-san agrees with his wife

[Most of the time I can see things clearly, however, certain interferences with my foresight and my clairvoyance have been happening here and there]

I tilt my head

"What do you mean, is it at random?"

Kusuo-san puts a hand on his chin

[It seems so, but we did noticed that regular events or things that usually concern normal people seem to be working fine at least ]

To Kusuo-san's words, Aiura gives a breath of relieve

"At least I can thank for this, otherwise my business would be in trouble"

Aiura works with giving out fortunes to people, most of her customers come to her asking for advice about love, work and mundane things, so this inteference must not have affected it

But this is still bad, if Kusuo-san and Aiura are having trouble with their predictions and foresight, something major might be happening

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, but could you please warn us if you know anything about our daughter or about this?"

I wave my hand

"It's not a lot at all, I'm actually glad you trusted me with this information, since it could probably involve us as well"

An interference of that kind must also be able to mess with our side, no, it's a surprise that heaven and the underworld haven't been affected by whatever it's causing it yet

[Very well, thank you Liliana. Now I'm sorry, but I must go back to work]

"Bye, darling"

"Goodbye, Kusuo-san"

We wave Kusuo-san goodbye as he disappears from the room

After he's gone, Aiura slushes herself on the table

"Just talking about it stresses me out..."

She seems to be really tired, worrying about her daughter and also having to deal with this sudden interference in both their powers must be rough

I think about saying farewell and ending my visit here, however, Aiura straights herself in the chair and stretches her arms

"Ah, but since we are here, how about doing a reading?"

I wide my eyes in surprise

"Are you sure?"

She waves her hand nonchantly

"Yes, don't worry, I always have energy to do my readings"

She says recomposing herself

"So let's see it..."

Aiura stares at the crystal ball for a while

Suddenly, a glow comes from inside the ball and a smile appears on Aiura's face

"T-Tatseyo?!"

I yell and she giggles

"Fufufufu, oh Lilly, I never expected you to be so much of a girl like that, fufufu"

"W-what are you saying?!"

I feel the blood rushing to my cheeks when she says it

"Tatseyo-kun, you really like him, don't you?"

My eyes feel like they'll pop out of my head. How did I not see this coming?!

"T-this was a bad idea!" - I say trying to take the crystal ball from her

But Aiura stands up too and grabs the crystal ball before I can take it from her

"Oh ho, why are you so embarassed now? You like to tease but can't take it when you are on the receiving end?"

She says with an impish expression

"Mou, Aiura-san! I thought you were going to tell me something more serious!"

"And is there anything more serious than the wishes of the heart? Fufufu"

"S-stop with that!"

I go after Aiura, but she leaps over the table and keeps looking at the crystal ball

"So, do you wanna know if he likes you too? This is a good opportunity for it"

"I-I don't need it!"

"Eh, why not?"

I step back after failing again to take the crystal ball from her hands

"I-it's just that there's a lot going on right now, Tatseyo is still adapting to all of this and I also have my responsabilities as a noble, if I tried anything right now... he might..."

I stop myself as I shake a fearful thought that crossed my mind

As I'm avoiding to think about unecessary things, Aiura's hand reach for my cheek and caresses me

"I can't even begin to think what must be going through your head right now, I'm not a telepath like darling, but I can at least tell you this"

She puts the crystal ball back in the table and looks at me

"If you keep waiting for the right opportunity, you might end up regretting not doing it sooner"

Aiura smiles and bumps my shoulder

"You are a strong girl, I know you got what it takes, you remind me a lot of myself when I was younger, have I told you about the volcano incident?"

I nod my head

"You confessed to Kusuo-san again just after he had avoided the destruction of the country"

"Yes, I did! Look, I'm not saying you should introduce yourself to his family, but if you really like him, you should tell him"

I smile a little at Aiura's advice

"Thanks, I'll try it"

She nods her head satisfied

"Geez, knowing that boy he would probably be all over you if he saw this defenseless side of yours"

"N-no way!"

"Hahaha! Anyway, I'm going to put this thing back, do you wanna stay for dinner?"

I shake my head

"I need to head back to the casino, I'm sorry"

"C'mon it's going to be quic-"

SHAKE SHAKE

"Huh? What's this?"

As Aiura is trying to convince me to stay, the crystall ball on her hand starts changing color

"It's... black?"

The ball who was crystal clear just a moment ago has began to darken

"Is this the interference you were talking about?"

My question is quickly rejected as Aiura shakes her head

"No, this isn't it..."

Aiura puts the ball back on the table and looks at it, I also approach and notice that the darkness inside the ball is actually dark clouds

"It's a storm" - Aiura says

The ball now has become completely shrouded in the dark clouds and is irradiating a fearsome energy, even though it should be only a channel for Aiura's powers, it seems to be giving off an aura of it's own.

Then emerging from the darkess, a disturbing face showed up

"T-this is a storm?"

The aura that comes from it is bad, an evil energy filled with malice, even though we are feeling it through the crystal ball

The face stands still completely expressionless as if staring at us untill all darkness disappears and the crystal ball returns to normal

Nervous sweat has appeared on her face and I feel my heart beating faster

"W-what was this?"

I ask as Aiura lifts the crystal ball right in front of her face in an attempt to search for something wrong with it

"An omem, a really bad one"

"A-an omen?"

Aiura nods

"It's powerful, but it's not the interference from before"

After saying that she sighs

"Great, another thing to watch out for..."

I gulp down

"Any idea of what it might be?"

Aiura regretfully answers as she puts the ball back on the shelf

"Don't know, but it was evil, definitely a very negative energy giving off an enormous aura. I'll let darling know about it, but please warn the others and be careful yourself"

I nod my head

"Thank you, I will"

Interrupting Aiura, a communication circle appears next to me

"Ah, I'm sorry, it's from work. Mind if I?"

Aiura waves her hand

"No problem, go ahead"

I answer the seal

"Hello?"

From the other side, a familiar voice calls my name

"Liliana-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt your visit, but we just received new information and I wanted to convey it to you as soon as possible"

Another important thing, seriously, it's just one after the other...

"It's alright, you can tell me now"

"Tatseyo's friend has warned that she'll arrive in about a week, she has just communicated with him"

"Oh..."

That's actually good news, I was worried for a sec

"Something wrong, Liliana-sama?"

Without noticing it, I just gave out a breath of relieve

"No, it's nothing Manaki, thanks for keeping me informed. I'm already going back so we can discuss things further"

"Understood, Liliana-sama"

We end the communication and I notice that Aiura is looking at me

"Good news?" - she asks

"Yes, Ayumu will be arriving soon"

I had already told Aiura about Ayumu's visit to Kuoh town, though she would probably hear about it even if I didn't told her

"You're planning to fill her in like you did with us?"

"Uhum, but of course we gotta keep it a secret"

My relation with the Saiki family is completely off the books since espers have a rivalry with almost everyone that's not human and it would cause a lot of problem if it was found out. There are many espers who wouldn't like to know that they are associated with devils, no matter how good our intentions are.

"Well, I would insist for you to stay a little longer, but I guess you have work to do, right?"

I nod

"Sorry, Aiura, next time I promisse to eat with you and Kusuo-san"

"Fufufu, I'm gonna hold you on that one, see you later, Lilly-chan"

We exchange farewells and I head back to the Dark Devil Casino

 **Part 2**

 **Space - Unknown location**

Millions of miles away from earth, a huge metal vehicle was drifting on space

It was a space ship, just like the ones you often see in Sci-fi movies, only this one was real, it was way more advanced than anything a human could create, however, the single habitant of that ship was exactly that, a human.

The place was a like a world of it's own, walls and floor covered in metal with modern equipment that couldn't be obtained by normal means laying all around the place.

The base this habitant currently occupied was very dim-illuminated, a normal person would have a hard time guiding around, the only lights that shone inside it were several monitors on a big wall at an end of the base.

And taring at the monitors, was a small figure sitting on a chair while humming a song

 _"Let me pass, let me pass_  
 _What is this narrow pathway here?_

 _It's the narrow pathway of the Tenjin_ _shrine_

 _Please allow me to pass through"_

Her presence was so shocking as the ship itself, in the middle of all the high tech equipment, she sat there wearing only a high school girl uniform and a pair of glasses.

In front of her, the several screens showed news from different parts of the world

Not just from the human world of the earth she had left, but also the news from the underworld, home of the devils and fallen angels who lived beneath the human world, and from heaven, the lair of the angels who lived above the skies

An impossible and fantastical sight that seemed to be out of a movie, the fantastical ship, the girl that silently sat there as if it was the most normal thing in the world and now the TV shows that were on the screens.

There couldn't be a way for the monitors to receive signal, much less signal from the underworld and heaven broadcasting companies.

But for this girl, Kuriko Saiki, something like that was easy to do

On the monitors, several different programs were being transmited, there were dozens of them, all talking about a variety of things

There were news channels, culinary programs, children's shows, fashion shows, etc...

A cacophony of different sounds and voices came from them, a normal person wouldn't possibly understand what each of them were talking about all at once, but to her, understanding this was also something easy to do

In one of the channels, a kids show was playing

Not a human kids show, but a devil kids show

On it, a teenager around her own age was wearing a red armour in a gleeful coloured scenario

Surrounded by kids, they started singing with the boy in armour

[ There is a breast-loving Dragon living in the edge of a certain country

The Dragon goes for a walk when the weather is good

DRAGON DRAGON OPPAI DRAGON  
GROPE-GROPE SUCK-SUCK PAFU-PAFU

There are so many types of breasts

But he likes the big ones the best

The Oppai Dragon also flies today! ]

When Kuriko heard the song, she stopped humming and shifted her attention solely to that screen

Her eyes became sharp as a sword as she stared intensely at the monitor displaying the Oppai Dragon show, as if trying to dig a hole on the character's head with her eyes

"Sekiryuutei..."

She said in a very low voice

A killing intent had oozed out of her body and an annoyed expression emerged on her face

Kuriko then suddenly snapped her fingers and the monitors were all turned off

The room was enveloped by darkness, however, she didn't bothered turning the lights on, her vision was completely unaffected by the lack of light

Standing up from the chair, she stretched her arms and floated across the corridors of the big space ship. Kuriko looked like a ghost amidst the darkness, floating above the cold metal floor as she passed by several equipments and machines that gave off a faint light that barely illuminated the place

Eventually, she reached a big steel door that opened as if it had a mind of it's own, Kuriko walked through the bridge that led to outer space, the lack of air and gravity not affecting her in the slightest

She sat on the very end of the ship's outside, staring at the infinity of space and then closing one of her eyes, this was a condition required to use her clairvoyance.

In the eye she closed, the image of a familiar blue planet appeared

Earth.

A smile crept on her face as she announced

"It's time"

Those simple words carried an enormous weight and malice to them, almost as if announcing an execution

Kuriko reached for her head and removed one of the pink antennas on her scalp, the limiters that held back her full power

As soon as the first antenna was removed, the aura surrounding Kuriko became huge and overwhelming, any regular human or low class creature would have passed out simply from being close to her

She thought about removing the other antenna, but decided against it, just this one would be enough for what she was going to do

[Everything is on schedule, red is coming to town, pink and yellow are still blinded, black and gold are right where they should be and white and green have been bought.]

A telephatic message to her allies or, in her point of view, her pieces

[Do not interrupt. That's all for now]

Inter-planetary telepathy, the ones who were by her side had already become used to it, Kuriko would contact them whenever she wanted, speaking directly to their brains disregarding completely what they were doing or if they wanted it.

But to them, this was a cheap price to pay for having the backup of Kuriko, without her, none of this could have worked. The plan she was talking about wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for her.

One of the reasons why she was travelling through space was to become unreachable, after interfering with her parents foresight, she had to make sure no one would be able to find her.

With a longing look in her eyes, she stared at earth and put her hand forward, as if she could grasp all of the planet in the palm of her hand

"Fate is inevitable and now I am the only one ruling fate, therefore... I am inevitable"

A glimpse of happiness crept across her face as she said this

Kuriko stood up and opened her eyes, the image of earth faded away from her sight.

Then extending her arms as if preparing to embrace the stars in front of her, she declared

"All there is in this world, as well as the other world, everything will be at my reach"

And right afterwards returned to her normal, unfazed state, looking around to see if anyone had listened to her

"...And now I'm monologuing"

Realizing how weird she looked making a speech in front of no one, she put her antenna back and sat on the steel plataform again

"Isolation really messes with someone's head..."

Kuriko was not the talker, everything she wanted to say she communicated through telepathy, however, ever since she had started travelling around the cosmos, she started talking with her own voice more, perhaps it was to fill the silence there was around her? Was that it? All she knew was that it wasn't out of loneliness

"Maybe it's time to move out"

She thought about it for a while before standing up and walking back into the ship

Kuriko went all the way into one of the furthest parts of the ship: The vault

A place that stored several things she had acquired during her many travels across the vast universe

Dust, gas and soil samples from all kinds of planets, huge caspules that contained particles from stars and even radioactive material, it was all stored in here. Some of these things had been acquired from galaxies where humans have never even reached yet, however, what Kuriko was loooking for wasn't any of those things.

She went to the far back of the storage room where she kept her most ambitious project

At first glance it seemed to be only a scanner in one of the walls, however, as Kuriko put her hand on it, the enviroment around her changed drastically

From the ship's storage room, grass, trees and blue skies emerged, changing everything around her.

Clouds filled the sky, the sound of water nearby could be heard and fresh air blew through Kuriko's face as she felt the smell of the nature around her

She took a deep breath and started strolling through the green scenario, removing her shoes so she could feel the grass beneath her feet.

Kuriko sat beneath the shade of a tall tree and took a deep breath

However, as she relaxed in the lush scenario, a sight far from comforting emerged in her mind

"W-what?"

Dark clouds obscured her sight and engulfed everything around her

Kuriko felt the atmosphere become extremely heavier and her hair stood on attention

She remained silent as in the middle of the clouds a dark figure covered in shadows stood there staring at her.

It gave off a terrible aura, it's abstract form only made it creepier to look as if it was the shadow of death itself

She and the figure stared at each other in silence, not a single sound was heard during those few moments that seemed to last an eternity

Kuriko didn't broke eye contact with the creature for even a split second before the vision ended as abruptly as it had began

The blue skies, tall trees and green grass all came back and the frightening atmosphere vanished immediately as if nothing had happened at all

After coming back to her senses, Kuriko placed a hand on her chest

Her heart was leaping

However, unlike Liliana and Aiura, the expression on her face was one of pure joy

To make the heart of a person like her leap, what a tremendous power the figure she had seem emmited. So powerful she couldn't clearly see it, even with her own powers, however, she knew to who it belonged to, she already had a glimpse of it once and she was longing to see it free.

The smile on Kuriko's face turned to pure ecstasy that no one had ever seen on her face before

"Ah! It's not fair to tease a girl like this! I want it now! I want it so badly!"

Kuriko led a finger to her mouth and bit it with such a strength that blood started flowing out

"But I can't, I have to control myself... at least for now"

After calming down and taking the finger out her mouth she smiled to herself as blood dripped on the ground and water began to fall down from the sky

"Finally all this waiting will pay off, the storm is coming..."

The smile on her face got broader as she lifted her hand and smashed on the floor, causing a lightning to strike right next to her

"And we're all going to be drenched on it!"

 **Afterword** : So, have you seem that Issei and Koneko's voice actors got married? I think it was seriously cute, there were even some fanarts of it. Well, sorry for taking so long to post this one, I'm going to move out soon so I'm kinda busy, but I think I'll go back to my usual rhytm in a while


	36. A (very) hot girl

Nightime.

It's the time when evil creatures crawl out of their holes.

Demons, youkais, fallen angels, evil spirits, monsters, you name it.

Most wouldn't die if they went out in the sun, but evil seems to like the cover of darkness. So that means it's the time we espers usually work

But fortunately, for me at least, today is not one of those days!

"Ahhh!"

I breath out while sinking into my bed

After several days of fighting evil spirits, monsters and youkais nonstop, I'm finally able to relax a little before going to Kuoh town and see Tachan

His voice was pretty serious last time we talked...

I'm excited, but the things he said have been troubling me for a while

'Do not attack any inhumans once you are here'

What did he meant by that?

 _RING RING_

As I'm thinking about it, my device rings

I answer it

"Red Flame?"

Recognizing the voice on the other side of the line, I promptly answer while sitting up on my bed

"Yes, Mirabel-sensei!"

The latin accent and serious tone of my commander and teacher talks again

"I heard you just finished the last assignment we had prepared for you, did everything went well?"

I nod my head even though I'm speaking through the device in phone mode

"Yes, it wasn't so easy, but I'm completely fine"

"That's good to hear, because we need you to do one more mission before you go"

Hearing this, my expression immediately drops and I let out an exclamation

"Eeeh? Why? I thought yesterday's was the last one!"

Right when I thought I could relax for a while? C'mon!

"I'm sorry about it, but this is an emergency situation, we need you to head to the coordinates I've sent you"

A buzz comes from my device and the location of the place they want me to head to appears

"T-this far? Isn't there anyone closer to it?"

This is in another town, even if I fly, it'll take a while to get there

"There are, but none of them are high level espers like you, I was the one who recommended you for this mission"

"E-eh? Really?"

For sensei herself to recommend me...

"What situation is it?"

Sensei answers me with a stern voice

"A monster situation with hostages, several people have been missing from the region and we finally managed to track it down. The town's government asked us to deal with it as swiftly and secretely as possible, that's why we can't be careless"

My eyes wide at her answer, so that's why it's so urgent

"I-I see..."

If it's like this, then my personal feelings don't matter

"Do you know how many monsters and hostages?" - I inquire

"Three hostages were reported and only one monster, demon level at least, but be careful, you'll be alone in this one"

If it's only demon level then I can easily take it down

"Thanks for your worry, but I'll be fine. Later, Mirabel sensei"

Before I can hang up, sensei talks to me one last time

"I trust your skills, Ayumu, you have show us time and again that you can do it, but I still wish you good luck"

"T-thank you, sensei"

I reply emotional at my sensei's words

After ending the call and preparing to leave, I check the location one last time

"Alright! Time do dive head on!"

 **Part 2**

In a shanty area of the town, filled with rubble and ruined buildings taken over by graffiti

There stands the place where the monster has taken hideout, an abandoned theater

"I have reached point bravo, I'll enter the area right now"

I give the report through the device, just a formality to inform that I'm already on the job

Right when I approach the entrance of the building, I feel a disgusting gaze over my body

"I see... so it's already it's territory"

I say with a sarcastic smile as flames envelop my body and I send a jet of fire to burn the door down

"Excuse me~"

I enter the building, since it's night and this place is abandoned I have to rely on my flames for lighting

"Hey Mr Monster, show me your ugly face!"

I shout and hear my voice eccho through the empty halls, it's kinda funny

...

No answer, that's expected

As an esper, I can use my awareness to sense where an evil energy is located anyway, I was going to give it a chance to show up on it's own, but nothing I can do if it wants the hard way

"My instinct is telling it's coming from... there!"

My flames cut through the ceiling and I fly straight to the second floor where I've sensed it's energy

In a normal situation I could have sent my flames straight at the place I sensed it, but since there are hostages, I can't take any risks

I pass through the hole dug with fire and narrow my eyes as I enhance my flames to see further

There is a huge stage in the front and many seats neatly organized even though everything is old and covered in dust, this must have been the place where the shows took place

The place I dug a hole was part of the line of seats so they have been reduced to dust along with the floor, sorry to whoever owns this theater

"Uhm..."

I hear a faint sound coming from one of the lines of seats

This energy, it's the energy of humans!

I go towards the line of seats where I've sensed the aura and am greeted by two loud shrieks

"Gah!"

"Kyaah!"

A man and a woman who shout the moment they see me, it seems that they were taking cover here from whatever monster is living in this place.

"Please, don't hurt us!"

The man shouts as he covers the woman with his body

"H-hey, I'm here to help!"

I say, confused as to why they are so scared of me

Untill it hits me

"Oh yeah, the mask!"

I take off my mask to let them see my real face for a moment before putting it back

"See? Human just like you two, I'm here to help"

After I show my face, the couple's faces light up and they give me hopeful looks

"R-really? Thank you so much!"

The woman says standing up, the man also rushes to stand up and grabs my hand

"Please, you have to help our friend too! That creature took him to the back of the stage!"

He says with a panicked look, so that's where the other one is...

"We escaped and hid here, but Taki's still in there!"

They say pointing to the stage that is emanating a dangerous aura

I stare at the dark stage that has no signs of any movement on it

"You two wait here and don't move from this place"

I warn them and make my way to the stage

It's abandoned and covered in dust just like the rest of the building and the lack of light only adds to the creepy atmosphere of this place

[So, someone has come to take me down, I was already expecting it]

A deep voice comes from the stage

Though I'm using my flames to light the place up, I can't see the creature

I can sense it but I cannot see it.

This must be this monster's ability

Invisibility? Yeah, like it's ever this easy...

[But... a devil? Why has the underworld sent a devil after me?]

"No, I'm not a demon"

I say knocking on my mask to show it's not my real face. I decided to keep the conversation going in order to get a better grasp of it's ability

[A mask? So you are not a devil and not from the church either, who the hell are you?]

I snirk

"Does my origin really matter?"

The monster give a quick laugh

[Eh, guess not, since you'll be dead anyway]

"Dead? Oh no, I have no plans of dying here"

[So you are serious about killing me, is that what these flames are for?]

So he can see my flames and my mask, but couldn't tell the difference between the mask and a real demon face, that means he's close and watching, but not too close. I need to buy more time.

"I wouldn't underestimate my flames if I we-"

 _SLASH_

A gust of wind comes from behind me and I instantly dodge to the side

When I look at it, the place that I was at had been destroyed by what seems to be a chain with a hook at the end

[So you are not just talk!]

The chain seems to have come out from some sort of black hole, this must be where he's hiding at! So much for buying time...

"Ahhh!"

I lash out my flames towards, but it disappears inside the hole, quickly avoiding the attack. I try to get a glimpse of the creature inside, but I only see chains.

[Did you like my ability?]

"An alternate dimension..."

What a tricky skill he has

[By hiding myself inside this space, I can see what's going on around me, but you cannot see me!]

Chains come out of several holes and come at me while shifting directions and angles

"That's a good skill you have there, but if you need to touch me, then it's as good as nothing!"

It's obvious he's trying to reach for my blind angles, but I won't be caught like that!

I easily dodge his chains by stepping and jumping around the theater, it's chains are able to follow me everywhere, despite not hitting, it seems they can stretch almost endlessly

"Disappear!"

I shout as my flames engulf his chains and burn them to ashes

[You are quite impressive, for my chains to be burned so easily...]

I smirk

"If that's all you got then you might as well give up now"

The monster give an angered sneer

[Tsk, you are quite something, but for a special opponent like yourself, I have something special of my own!]

I put my guard up, another trick?

The hole opens again for a moment, what appears inside are different types of monsters!

[Take her down!]

Some of the monsters that jumped out of it have beast like features. Wolves, spiders and bats, however, there are some with humanoid figures, including their faces

I unleash my flames and they destroy several of the monsters around, some dodge, including the humanoid ones, but by making my flames change direction I manage to hit all of them

A group of humanoids stands up with their bodies burned, they and the beasts charge to attack one more time

"Guahh!"

They jump against me making grotesque noises, I charge my flames about to attack, but a voice comes from the audience seats

"Taki? Is that you?"

The couple from before is standing up with a terrified expression on their faces

"Taki?!"

Instead of attacking, I dodge the attacks and stop at a safe distance to look at the couple again

They have panicked expressions on their faces and the woman asks with wide eyes

"T-Taki, is that really you?"

I look at the monsters in front of me

Their eyes are blooshot, their teeth and nails are sharp, skin pale like paper and mouth foaming in anger, there is no denying that these are full fledged monsters

But from what these two said and from what Mirabel-sensei told me, the conclusion is obvious

"So these are the people who are missing, you turned them into monsters..."

Certain types of creatures are able to replicate each other by contaminating other living organisms, including humans...

"That can't be... it can't be Taki"

The man says in disbelieve

[Hahaha! So what you think? Can you kill someone who was once one of your own? HAHAHA!]

The monster laughs histerically as the humans turned monsters run charging at me

I dodge their attacks swiftly and unleash my flames against them

"What a low tatic, to use former humans to attack me..."

My flames surround their bodies and the monsters all screech in agony

[W-what are you doing?!] - The main monster asks from inside his space

"But do you really thought this would deter me?"

"GUEEEEEEHH! AHHHHHH!"

The creatures leaves out grotesque screams as their bodies begin to be reduced to charcoal

[W-what?]

"I think you got things wrong, Mr Monster..."

I say calmly as I watch the former man referred to as Taki and all the other ex-humans be burned along the other beastly minions that came from the space

"I don't give a half crap about what someone was..."

 _VOOSH_

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

My flames intesify as the rests of their bodies are reduced to ashes

"Once someone throws their humanity away they become lower than trash, killing these monsters is a favour I'm doing to all of them"

I walk up towards them and lower my head to look in the eyes of one of the humanoids, it's arms try to attack me even though it's hands have been almost completely destroyed

"Rest in peace"

I say as an inferno is unleashed on the stage and a moment later disappears, not even ashes are left of the monstrosities who once were at this stage

"W-what have you done..."

"T-Taki..."

I hear the shocked voices of his friends from the set of chairs

"Why did you do this to him?!" - The man shouts

I decide to ignore them, nothing I say or do will make any difference now.

"Are you hearing me? You crazy woman!"

The man lost reason and is yelling at me for killing what used to be his friend, but at least he is still sane enough to not come after me leaving the relatively safe line of chairs

After recovering from the shock from seeing it's streategy demolished, the monster speaks again in a mocking tone

[Kekekekeke, such determination in your eyes, you clearly feel no remorse over what you did, killing someone who was human just a few hours ago, are _you_ even human?]

It's not the first time someone asks me that, but it doesn't really matter to me, if I can use my powers to make this world a better place, a safer place, then it's okay.

"I am more human than scum like you coud ever dream to be, now I'll be disposing of you right away"

[And how do you plan to do this, huh?! You can't touch me inside my dimension! I'm invincible here! I'll just keep sending more and more of my minions untill you can't fight anymore!]

The creature answers mocking me and I merely shrug

"You'll notice soon enough"

After I say this a laugh echoes from nowhere

[Are you by any chance trying to buy yourself some time? I won't let you! Get ready to be- huh?]

So it noticed

"I really didn't expect your ability to be this troublesome, but you also looked down on me"

Standing up, I point at him

Yes, even inside it's dimension, I can clearly tell where it is now!

"This is my skill! My fire has a mind of itself and is connected to me, it'll follow my orders and destroy you even if I can't see you!"

[W-WHAAAAAT!?]

The monster screams with despair in his voice

"The second time you attacked me with your chains I had them travel through ever so slightly that you wouldn't notice! Now you will burn untill there's nothing left!"

I concentrate and feel my flames intensify, yes, they are definitely burning something!

[I-impossible! It's a lie! I'm invincible inside my dimension! You can't do thissss!]

"My flames tell me where you are, now your safe space will burn with you!"

He screams as I feel my flames intensify and start to destroy his body

"UWAAAAAAH! FUCK YOU!"

In it's despair, the creature leaves the hole, releasing it's chains and more beasts as it charges forward

There are many more monsters than before, including more former humans, this must be the whole army it managed to gather so far.

But most importantly, now I understand the thing I saw in the hole

This monster does not control chains

It _is_ the chains!

A creature made entirely of chains with weapons at their ends and eyes all over it's "body" stood before me swinging it's metalic weaponry all around and shifting height and size as it pleased

It's incredibly fast and seems to be able to regenerate even the sects which were already burnt. And it can also turn humans and animals into monsters! Isn't this thing closer to a dragon level?

The other creatures charge me with claws, acid and spikes which are all destroyed by my flames along with their bodies

The monster seems to be getting more and more desperate as it's minions are easily reduced to ashes and my flames keep intensifiying all around it's body

"HAAAA! I'll kill you by myself if I have to!"

It's chains fly towards me

"This won't work on me!"

I create several lines of fire that trap them together and burn them down

Even if he's powerful, out of his hole he's an easy target

"Just give up and let my flames take you to the afterlife"

The creature's eyes wide and I can tell that if it had a mouth, it would be foaming in anger

"N-no, I won't stop!"

Covered in flames, the monster extends it's chain arms beyond the line of chairs and grabs the man from the couple, so this one can create chains even as I burn them. I really can't take this lightly

"Wo-woah!"

It lifts the man by the head and screams with a triumphant smile

"Surprised? Even as you burn me I can create more chain within my body! What are you gonna do now? If you keep burning me, you'll end up hurting him too! KAKAKAKA!"

"Patethic..."

So that's all what he's trying to do?

The smile on the monster's face fades away and a look of desperation emerges

"What are you doing?! Stop it now or I'll crush him even before your flames have the chance to-"

I lift my hand and my flames engulf the chains it was using in an instant, destroying it in a split second

 _THUD_

"U-Uh?"

The sound of the man falling on the floor echoes through the theater

"Regeneration means nothing if I just burn you faster than you can recover. I'll gladly erase you link by link"

Looking at it's own body slowly being reduced to nothing the monster yells

"Y-you burned a human! You crazy bitch! What the hell are you?!"

I shake my head in disappointment

"Burned? What are you talking about?"

The monster looks in the direction I'm pointing and it's eyes go wide to see the man completely unscathed being held by the woman

"Are you okay?"- She asks

"Y-yes, I think I'm fine"

He answers while checking himself in disbelief that not even his clothes were damaged

"I-imposible, you are lying..."

With the weapons who were linked to it's body destroyed and the metal of his chains melting like ice cream, the monster falls to it's knees

"How did you?"

I approach him as my flames slowly devour his body

"Have you ever read the bible?"

The monster looks at me confused, or at least that's what it looks like with half of his head already burnt by the flames

"I'm not very religious, but I particularly like the part about the furnace..."

I make a pause and create flames within my hand

"Like I told you, my flames have a mind of their own, when I couldn't control them, they caused me a lot of trouble... but now that I'm mastering them, I can do this!"

The fireball created pierces a perfect round hole at his body and also leaves the rest of the teather intact

"Just like the furnace didn't kill Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, my flames will only burn those who are guilty at my command!"

The monster looks at the hole on it's chest

"I see... so this battle was settled from the very beginning"

The face filled with terror and pain turned into a comformed smile and with half of it's "body" already gone, the monster lowers it's head

"Before I'm gone for good, could you at least tell me your name, warrior?"

I tilt my head and take a deep breath

"No"

"E-eh?"

"You're annoying me, so just die already"

With this last reply, I make my flames engulf his entire body and the monster disappears leaving not even ashes behind

"There's no reason to give my name to an inhuman, much less an inhuman who's about to die"

After confirming that there are no other monsters around, I go check on the couple who's crouched down on the floor

"Are you two alright?"

I offer them a hand but none of them take it, instead they both stand up on their own and the man looks at me with anger in his eyes

"Why did you kill Taki?"

Taki, the friend of them that was turned into a monster along with many others, it seems they didn't want me to harm him, but that was impossible

"There was no helping it, he was already gone"

"My ass there was no helping it!"

He grabs me by the necktie of my kimono and looks at me directly through the mask, his eyes reflecting his anger

"Taki was a good guy, he didn't deserve this! How do you know there was no other way around?! What the hell are you?"

"Stop! You'll get hurt!"

The woman yells with a scared look on her face

Scared for the life of her friend, scared of me

These two pairs of eyes

These angry eyes, these fearful eyes

I've seen them before...

I reply nothing and the man lets go off my clothes

"Are you... really human?"

I don't answer anything and simply point out my device

"Don't worry, you won't remember this"

I activate the sleep function and both of them pass out

"Ah, what a day..."

Still, I need to call the association

As I prepare to send the report of my mission through the device, I feel a stinging pain on my lower back.

As I reach for it I feel a damp feeling on my hand and bring it to my face

"Fresh blood..."

So it did managed to get a hit on me

...And I didn't even noticed

Really, I still got ways to go

I sigh to myself, if it was Tachan or another higher level, he could have dealt with it much faster, maybe if-

"Ah! Get a damn grip!"

Interrupting my own depressive thoughts by slapping myself in the face, I make the call and report the results of my mission

"Red Flame here, the monster has been terminated, two hostages have been rescued and are currently on sleep mode, unfortunately, one of the hostages was contaminated along with several other people I assume were the ones who had gone missing, I had to take them all out. No other casualties to report"

An operator's voice answers from the other side

"Good job Red Flame, any need for assistance?"

"Yes, I'll need a brainwasher for the two hostages who survived, they've seen a lot. Also, I'm gonna need a healer, the creature got a hit on me"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I can cauterize it with my flames, but I want to make sure I wasn't poisoned or anything like it"

"Understood, we are sending them right away. Also, Red Flame, before you leave for K-town, your presence has been requested in one of our labs, the Mad Scientist wants to see you, says he has some upgrades"

Eh? That guy wants to see me?

"U-upgrades?"

"Yes, said he got some new gear and wants to give it to you before you go"

I answer still surprised at the request

"Understood, I'll be going there then"

I end the call and look at the passed out couple

"This is going to be a long night..."

 **Part 3**

"Hey, Yatsushiro-chan, long time no see"

The man in the guardpost in front of the cave talks to me

It looks like a normal guardpost to keep people away from the cave, but it's true purpose is to keep people away from what's in the underground of this cave

"Hi, longe time indeed, I came here to see the Mad Sc- I mean, Doctor Kusuke"

I say handing a bag with a bagel inside

"Ah, you know what makes this old man happy, kekeke. Go ahead, he's waiting for you"

"Thank you."

He lifts the cancel for me to pass and I walk to the cave

This entire mountain is owned by the company of Kusuo-san's older brother, AKA: The Mad Scientist (unofficial nickname)

He's one of the people responsible for testing the young espers that join the ranks of our community, he also makes gears and equipments for us, he's the one that designed my clothes and the mask I'm using, so even if I lose control of my flames, I won't end up buck naked.

I met with him when the community took me in, my first impression of him was odd to say the least

I stop in front of a tunnel where there's various signs warning against trespassing, I ignore them and follow through untill I reach a dead end with an old looking elevator that's closed shut, on it there's an object that seems to be a digital scanner

"Kusuke-san really takes security seriously..."

I place my hand on the scanner and a robotic voice speaks

[ID confirmed: Ayumu Yatsushiro, AKA: Red Flame]

The door of the old looking elevator opens and reveals an interior completely different from the outside

A large and well illuminated metal elevator, similar to one of those high-tech labs

After I step in the doors shut automatically and my descend on the cave begins

[Welcome to the Kusuke LTDA lab]

A screen pops up in the elevator and the same robotic voice from before starts speaking

"W-what?"

[This company was founded by the amazing inventor, scientist and world renowed genius, Kusuke Saiki]

"Oh god, please no..."

[Strive for scientific development working together with the supernatural is the main objective of our beloved mentor and superb mind]

A picture of Kusuke-san receiving a Nobel prize appears on the screen as the voice continues to explain the story of the company and ass-kiss him every chance it gets

Please end my life...

* * *

[And that was the incredible story of our company and it's amazing genius and inventive creator, welcome to Kusuke LTDA, enjoy your stay]

After what felt like an eternity of hearing the history of the company and Kusuke-san's "incredible accomplishments", the elevator opens up and I dash outside as quickly as possible

"Huff, huff, goddamn Mad Scientist..."

I curse under my breath as I try to make sense of where I am

"Did this place got bigger since last time?"

It's a huge facility similar to a generic sci-fi lab, easy to get lost and since there's no one else here I have no idea where to go to.

"Is there a map somewh-"

[Hello, Yatsushiro-san]

"Kyaah!"

I yelp as I turn around to see who called my name

[I am Unit W47H, I will guide you through the facilities to Kusuke-sama]

It's a round, flying metal object with something similar to a camera on it.

After I make sense of it, the robot turns around

[Please, follow me]

"A-alright then..."

Serious, couldn't this guy just call normal people to work for him? And what's up with 'Kusuke-sama'?

I follow the little flying robot to a double-door room where intense machinery noises can be heard from the inside

[Kusuke-sama is working here, you may please go inside]

The robot says and then flies away through the hallways back to god knows where it came from

I consider knocking on the door, but by the sounds coming from the inside, he wouldn't hear

Besides, the robot said it was okay to go in, right?

I push the doors open

"Wow..."

The room is large and filled to the brim with technological parafernalia which I don't understand

 _BZZZZZZT_

The sound of a saw echoes through the room and I look to the side where it's coming from

"HAHAHAHAHA! This is coming out wonderfully!"

Kusuke-san is using a backpack with six mechanical arms coming out of it, he seems to be building a robot? Or is it an armor?

"Kusuke-san?"

I call his attention, but he keeps on laughing and is now using an arm that seems to have a blowtorch attached to it

"Only a little more and it'll be complete!"

"Kusuke-san!"

I shout but he's still not paying any attention

"Now for the final ingredient..."

"KUSUKE-SAN!"

I stomp on the ground and release my flames around to call his attention, the room shakes with the release of my aura and Kusuke-san almost falls backwards

"Wo-woah!"

He stands forward and grabs the pieces that were about to fall with his robot arms

After recomposing himself, he looks at me and removes his safety mask

"Ah, Red Flame! Why you didn't told me you were here?"

"I've been doing it ever since I arrived!"

Kusuke-san waves his hand

"Ah, sorry, I've just been so focused on my inventions lately that I have barely paid attention to anything else! Hahaha!"

He gives a gleeful laughter despite the completely unhealthy remark

His appearance is not much different from what it used to be, his labcoat seems as clean as it always is, probably because of some invention, but there are circles around his eyes so big that he could be cosplaying a panda.

"Kusuke-san, have you been getting any sleep?"

This guy is definitely the type that would neglect his health over his inventions, maybe that's the reason why he's this way...

"HAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry, I took a nap on sunday!"

He answers with a gleeful voice as he removes his backpack and motions over to another table filled with different pieces and bolts

"But today is friday..."

He looks at me with a surprised look on his face

"Oh, really? I didn't noticed it at all! Time flies when you are dedicated to science, hahahahaha!"

"Please look after your health! You have a family you know!"

Even if he's like this, Kusuo-san would definitely feel bad if something happened to him

"Don't worry, Red Flame, I've been kept awake with my newest inventions"

He points to the antenna he uses on his head

"I've configured it to give me shocks that stimulate my brain and muscles so I can stay awake and also..."

He takes a syringe out of his pocket filled with a strange liquid substance

"I developed a new stimulant that keeps me awake and running all day long, HAHAHAHA!"

"Isn't that a drug?!"

"Technically not, since I invented it the government doesn't know about it, so it's not illegal!"

"That's not the problem here!"

Ignoring my words he turns around and lifts a finger

"Anyway, did they told the reason why I called you here, Red Flame?"

I nod

"Yes, they said something about an upgrade"

Kusuke-san claps his hands

"That's correct! Feast your eyes with this amazing new gear that's going to be your combat mode from now on!"

Kusuke-san picks up a large metallic briefcase with a number on it and opens to me

"This is your new battlesuit!"

I try to say something, but I simply stare bewildered at the shining outfit that's in front of me

"..."

Kusuke-san strikes a pose as he holds the briefcase open

"Speechless, right? I knew you would be! This is one of the very first third generation ESP Gears that were developed with recently acquired technology from undisclosed sources!"

I stare with my eyes wide and manage to force a word out of my mouth

"You..."

"Huh? I can't hear it, are you so impressed that you can't even talk?"

I clutch my fists and throw a fireball at a nearby wall

"YOU CRAZY PERVERT!"

I point at the open briefcase

"What the hell is up with this suit?!"

Aside from the mechanical look of the clothing, it seems that'll barely cover my body, my midriff and legs would be completely exposed on that!

Kusuke-san picks the top of the armor up and shows it to me

"How dare you say that about my newest brilliant invention! I'll let you know that this was made specifically to match your fire powers, no one else would be able to synchronize with it except you!"

"But still, why the hell is it all made of metal? It looks painful as heck to use!"

Aside from a long cloth at the bottom part, everything seems to be made of gears and metal, there's even jewelry on some parts

"Don't worry, the inside is comfy, it's going to feel like you are wearing nothing at all!"

"That's the problem, you crazy mad scientist! And why is the design so freaking complicated?!"

Seriously, compared to the usual kimono I use in battle, this thing is all over the place, there's even pieces of engine hanging from the top of the bottom part

"As I said, this is one of the first models, you can't expect it to look all prim and proper, as long as it works! Stop complaning and try it on already!"

Kusuke-san throws the briefcase to me

"Mou, and where am I supposed to change?"

I ask and he shakes his head

"That's not a problem, you see the big red jewel in the center?"

There's a particular red stone that looks like a ruby carefully crafted in the chestplate.

"This one here?"

He nods

"Just focus your aura in the stone and it should synchronize with you"

"Eh? So simple?"

I point my finger to the stone and release my aura

"Hold on a minute!"

Kusuke-san presses a button that drops a steel plate large enough to cover his body

"Now it's alright!" - He says lifting a thumbs up from behind it

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Oh, don't worry, this is just a safe procedure, I'm sure nothing bad will happen... probably"

That's not reassuring at all!

"Ah, whatever, let's do this!"

I gulp down and release my aura towards the jewel

After a while it becomes bright red and starts glowing

"I-is it working?"

Kusuke-san puts a palm of his head outside the plate and yells

"Yes! It's working!"

The suit leaves the case and begins floating around me

"Wo-woah!"

Attaching itself around my body, the armor starts feeling hot and two knifes appear on my hands

Once it has finished, I feel my body become lighter and the hot feeling from before cooling down

"Wo-wow..."

The design of the armor makes me look like an armored belly dancer, but I can't deny that it's...

"It's cute, right?"

"Ahhh!"

I feel Kusuke-san's hand on my shoulder and I turn around to see... Myself?

"C'mon, I also put a little thought in the design, you were always complaning that you aren't girly enough, so how does this look like? The red clothes and jewelry match your hair, girls like that, right?"

He's holding a mirror towards me and I stop for a moment to look

Despite the weird as hell design, it's probably one of the most feminine things I've wore in my life...

"So, what do you think?"

"W-well, it's good, but the jewels..."

I say putting my hand over the big red jewel on my chest, there are others scattered across the armor and now that they've "synched" with me I can sense that they are not just garnishments

"Oh, so you've noticed it! Well, these jewels are special after all, they withhold a lot of power in them, that means you'll be better at controlling your flames and focusing your power on specific targets"

"I understand, but... where did you get it?"

It's not the first time I see this, people who mess with the occult tend to carry stones like this one, even... devils.

"This is magic jewelry, right?"

Kusuke-san nods his head

"Yes, they are indeed, you didn't like it? I thought girls liked jewelry"

"That's not it! I mean, how did you get that? Did someone in the esper community gave it to you?"

Espers tend to keep a safe distance from things related to magic and the occult because it requires magical knowledge or instruction from someone with magic or demonic abilities about how to operate them, two things we don't have. But if Kusuke-san managed to make them work...

Oh no, please don't be what I'm thinking

"You didn't learned to use magic, did you?"

This terrible thought crosses my mind, since Kusuke-san is not an esper perhaps he learned how to use magic? I don't wanna live in a world where a guy like him has this sort of power!

"Of course not~ Who needs magic when you have science on your side? I simply got a contact who can use magical powers, I gave her something and she gave me something, fair exchange"

I shake my head in disbelief

"What!? You made contact with a magic user? Who in the world is it?"

Who would be crazy enough to make a deal with this mad scientist?

"No, no, I already told you it's an undisclosed source, to keep their safety and mine as well, the trade must remain anonymous"

Trying to squeeze any info out of this guy will be useless, if anything it will just wear me out, so I decide to ask about more important things

"I don't like the idea of having to use something that magicians and devils use... Are you sure this will make me stronger?"

Kusuke-san nods fiercely

"Ten billion percent sure! Take these daggers for example"

He points at the two weapons that appeared in my hand

"I can just use my fire to cut through things if I just shape my flames, why would I need them?"

Kusuke-san strikes a weird pose and points at them

"Of course you can, but, but, but! These daggers are made out of special material just like the rest of your clothing. Combined with your flames, even if you are fighting against magical armor you'll cut through it like it's butter!"

I look at the dagger on one of my hands and give it a squeeze with a bit of my strength, the blade instantly becomes red hot and I can feel the heat emanating from it

"Pretty cool, huh?"

I nod, still impressed by the capacity of these weapons

"But this clothes won't leave me exposed?"

Compared to the kimono I usually wear this 'armour' leaves way too much skin exposed, isn't it dangerous?

"Ha! Did you already forgot that they match your aura? While you are wearing this armor-"

Kusuke-san approaches me and I hear a metallic sound

* _CLINK_ *

"Your hot aura will block attacks even in the areas seemingly unprotected"

He then shows me a broken bisturi, wait, was that the source of the mettalic sound?

"You tried to stab me?!"

He shrugs

"Yup, bet you didn't even felt it, impressive right?

"Don't try to stab me without warning just to prove your point!"

This lunatic just tried to stab me!

"You nag way too much..."

He says with a pout expression

"Don't act like I'm in the wrong here!"

He shrugs again and makes a serious expression

"Also, I didn't received so much material from my contact to have the luxury of excessive expendure, so I'm trying to save as much of it as possible..."

He looks at me and puts a hand under his chin

"Of course I could have made it cover more areas with the usual material, but that would create soft spots in the armor and obviously it would have sacrificed this amazing sexy design"

Even after saying such a creepy thing he keeps up a serious expression!

"And what problem would there be on it?!"

I shout at him feeling my face getting red

Kusuke-san shakes his head

"Frankly, you are way too innocent, Red Flame. You said that your next mission will be in Kuoh town with Tornado of Terror's son, right?"

"Yeah, so what about it?"

"From my records I see you two have been together for a while, so..."

He gives me a thumbs up

"When he sees you in that he won't be able to take his hands off of you!"

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks so fast that I must be redder than my flames right now!

"W-w-we are not like that! You idiot! Batshit pervert scientist!"

He runs for cover behind the steel wall again as I my flames fly at him

"Hey, easy there! Don't wreck my lab!"

I take a deep breath after blowing my steam and shout at him

"As if I could show Tachan this clothing!"

I didn't thought about it before he spoke, but I'll die of embarassment if Tachan sees me like this!

"Why? Even if you are not like that yet, it could change"

"W-what are you saying?"

Kusuke-san makes a confused expression and answers

"I mean it's obvious that you like him, based on your facial expression, body language and voice whenever I mention his name, so why not just go for it?"

"Stop analyzing me as if you were a detective!"

Talking to him is even worse than talking to my friends! This is way beyond just teasing me!

"Besides, why do you care?"

I'm surprised he even bothered to mention my relationship with Tachan, I didn't thought he even knew about the two of us

Kusuke-san gives a smug smile and throws his hair back in a weird manner

"Oh, my dear Red Flame, again you are underestimating me..."

He then jumps across the room and opens up a cabinet filled with papers

"The reason why I want to see you and the son of Tornado together is because of... THIS!"

He then spreads around a desk several papers with pictures of people on it

I pick up the papers, in each of them is the photo of two people, a man and a woman

There's also text on it, detailing things like name, ethinicity and powers, so these people are espers? But why do th-

"Wait a minute, I recognize these two..."

I say picking up a paper that caught my attention

They are an older esper couple who had recently joined the esper community. Didn't they got married last year?

"Oh ho, so you know them? Have you heard that they are expecting?"

My eyes wide

"Really?! I had no idea!"

They are alredy expecting after just one year of marriage? Man, that's kinda fast.

But hold on...

"W-why are you showing me this? What does it have to do with me and Tachan?"

He shakes his head disappointed

"Are you serious, Red Flame? The reason is clear to see, I need you two to get together because!"

He throws another pose and starts shaking his hips, what is he doing?!

"I want to see how your babies are going to turn out! Obviously!"

WHAT?

I freeze in shock at his statement and watch as Kusuke-san keeps going with not even a hint of embarassment

"With the help of other scientists and medical staff of the international esper community, I've been keeping tabs on the marriages and births of as many espers as I can!"

Kusuke-san then shoves several files in front of my face

"See? Genetic trees, mutations, combination, this is gold! No, this is platinum, it's diamonds! With this I can tell which couples will give birth to the strongest espers or the ones with more elaborate skills and such!"

He's treating us like breeding pokemon!

"The Plague Doctor boy inherited powers from both of his parents and you, Red Flame, was born with amazing pirokinetic abilities despite having totally normal parents! I wanna see how you two mate and what kind of family you would constitute!"

He then approaches me and takes both of my hands in a pleading gesture

"That's why, please try to use your female charm for once in your life and give me plenty of children to analyze in my research! This is for the benefit of all the espers in the world!"

I immediately pull my hands away from him

"All the espers in the world my ass!"

I yell, finally able to say something

"Do you even realize what you are saying? You should go to jail for saying that me and Tachan should have children! We are not even 18 yet!"

Kusuke-san shrugs again

"Seventeen, eighteen, what's the difference? It's not illegal to have babies at this age and it would only be born when you two are eighteen anyway"

"Don't say it like it's no big deal! Is your brain even in the right place?!"

I know I'm getting repetitive, but this guy is insane, crazy, delusional! How can someone so smart be so disturbed?!

"Of course it is, this is not only for the benefit of the esper community, but yours too. After all..."

Kusuke-san throws his back at me and says while shrugging

"He's in another town, in a school that used to be girls-only, who knows what kind of ladies he will meet there~"

"E-eh?!"

I know the type of academy Tachan was going, hell, I even teased him for it when he told me it was girls-only untill a few years ago, but hearing this guy say it is different somehow!

"T-Tachan wouldn't do it!" - I retort him

"Well, maybe not yet, but I bet there's no shortage of girls there, even a scary guy might find a girl or two that like him, one day you might call and your dear Tachan will say something about a new girl in his life~"

"He would not do that! Tachan is... he is..."

I try to say it, but the words don't come out

"Huh?"

Kusuke-san turns around with a smile on his face

"Yours? You were going to say that he's yours, right? Huh? Huh? Weren't you?"

I feel my face getting even redder and shake my head

"No! I wasn't! If you're just going to spout crazy things then I'm leaving!"

I turn back to leave, expecting him to say some other crazy thing in order to keep messing with me.

Then I remember something...

"Hey, Kusuke-san... where did my normal clothes went?"

Before equipping this thing, I was wearing my regular clothes, so where the hell did they go?!

"Uh? They were teleported somewhere... I think"

You think!?

"Don't say that! I don't wanna go naked here!"

I grab Kusuke-san by his labcoat and he answers with a troubled smile

"Easy, easy, it's a magical item, so your clothes should return to you normally if you transform back, like a Mahou Shoujo"

"R-really?"

"Well, it's programmed to do so, it's magic so I don't know really well how to explain"

"A-alright, but turn around! Don't look this way!"

Kusuke-san turns his back to me

"Don't worry, it's not me the one you should show your body to"

"S-shut up!"

Does he always manage to say something embarassing?

I turn around one last time, but Kusuke-san already seems absorbed on something else on the table

I touch the red stone on my chestplate and close my eyes

Please, please, come back!

When I open my eyes again, the armor disappeared and my clothes are back!

"Yes! Thank goodness!"

I put my hands up in relieve and look around to see if the armor got back to the suitcase

"W-where did it went?"

Even though my normal clothes returned, the only thing left of the armour I was using is a necklace around my neck with the red jewel that sat in the center of the armour

"I told you, it's a magical stuff, now that it has synched with you, it'll stay within that stone untill you call it forward again."

"I-I see..."

Even if it's something I'm not good with, I can't deny how awesome magic can be. And if this will help me become stronger...

"I-I'll be leaving then, thanks Kusuke-san"

As I'm about to leave, he calls me one more time

"Hey, Red Flame, one last thing."

I turn back, preparing myself to receive another weird question or remark from this crazy scientist

"How have you been?"

"Huh?"

But instead, Kusuke-san throws me this completely normal question while putting his weird gadget back on the table, making me wide my eyes in surprise

"W-what do you mean?"

He shakes his head

"I just want to know if you are fine, it's been some time since I've last saw you, so I just want to know if everyone's treating you well and if you managed to adapt"

It takes me a moment to shake off the surprise of seing Kusuke-san finally acting serious

"Y-yes, I'm doing really good here, everyone's nice to me, thanks..."

He then nods his head

"Good, good, listen... you didn't happened hear any news regarding my niece, Kuriko, have you?"

Kuriko-san? Why's he suddenly talking about her?

"N-no, I mean, some time ago she asked me to call Tachan so she could have a weird conversation with him, I think that was the last time either of us saw her."

Kusuke-san gives a sigh

"I understand... that's all then, thanks and take care of yourself"

He normally waves me goodbye

"G-goodbye..."

I silently make my way out of the room, but before closing the door I watch Kusuke-san going back to whatever invention he was working at before I arrived

Talking about his family, asking about how I am...

He almost looks like a normal and caring person like this

That's what I think before he equips a weird tentacle machine and starts using the blowtorch again laughing just like he was when I came in

"HAHAHAHA!"

...And he's back to normal

I walk out of the room and the same robot from before guides me to the elevator, fortunately that ass-kissing video doesn't play again and I can think straight on my way up

"Anonymous source..."

I look at the jewel on my necklace and remember the new shameless outfit I'm supposed to wear in combat now

Aside from embarassment, I also feel very curious about it

It's giving off no aura at all right now, but when it was equipped, this thing interacted with my powers

I touch it with my finger, careful not to let my aura go off

"Who in the world made this?"

* * *

 **Afterword** : Finally! I'm sorry for taking so damn long to post this chapter, I'm busy with study and going back home every weekend as well, but I'll do my best to keep updating this story as often as possible.

Also, there was one comment on my fanfic . net version asking if I would use characters from the To Aru series in this fanfic, since they have "espers" as well. I couldn't reply it in private since it was an anonymous comment, so I'll answer it here.

To be honest, I wasn't planning to, I only watched the first season of this anime so I would have a lot of catch up to do in order to understand the universe, it's mechanics and how to make it interact with what I already have. I do believe that I could make _something_ out of it, the Esper levels (0-5) could be an interest replacement for the hero classification system (C to S-class), the fact that magic also exists in the DxD universe would help to make it work and I wonder how a possible daughter of Accelerator would be like. But I'm not writting this for myself only, everyone reading this is my audience and I would like to know your thoughts about it, specially if you have knowledge about the To Aru series, do you think I could add another universe to this story? Or maybe it would be too much/too dificult to do so?


	37. Flame on departure

"Ufufufufufufufufu"

I laugh fidgeting to myself

After over a week carrying out missions and dealing with paperwork, I finally got permission to go to Kuoh town and see Tachan!

"Uh? Ayumu, you have been on a very good mood recently, any good news?"

My friend Shouko asks me and I turn to her

"After all this work, I'm finally going to see Tachan again, fufufu"

He was really serious and said he had something important to show me, but I can't help looking forward to see him again!

"I see, being away from your boyfriend sure must be tough, fufufu"

I feel my face getting hotter hearing it

"H-he's not my b-b-boyfriend! Tachan and I are childhood friends, t-that's all!"

"Then why are you blushing and lauhing on your own?"

"I wasn't blushing! Tachan is my greatest friend! So of course I want to see him again!"

"Really, huh? I wonder if Kageyama-kun is on the same line as you..."

She says looking at me from head to toe

"Uh? Same line?"

She gives an impish smile and shrugs

"Well, nevermind, right now we better focus at what we have at hand"

I tilt my head and sigh

"Ah... okay"

We are currently standing on the rooftop of an hotel

"According to the device, he should be right bellow us, get ready to go in at the count of three"

"Got i!"

I crouch down and stick out my hand with flames ready to burst

"What are you doing?!"

Shouko takes me by the arm before I can take any action

"W-well I was going to cut a hole in the roof so we could get in"

Listening to me, she rolls her eyes and points down

"Or I could shut off the energy and we could get in by the window, causing less panic and leaving less evidence behind"

She says pointing downwards and creating sparkles on her fingers

"O-oh... Y-yeah, that sounds better, hehehe"

I reply rubbing the back of my head

She hits one of the energy systems and a part of the building goes completely dark

"Lets go!"

She grabs onto me and I use my flames to glide in the air while carrying her

"W-wow... working with a high ranker sure is something else, I wish I could have this support more often"

She gives a small laugh and I nervously reply

"T-that really isn't much, also, I don't think I'm good for this sort of... human missions"

Shouko tilts her head

"Eh, don't worry, I'm actually glad I have a friend as my company."

I give an awkward smile, as much as it pains me to agree, this _is_ a low level mission. I too was surprised when they said I would have to go along on this one.

But before I can think about it any further, I feel a pinch on my forearm

"Hey, Ayumu, have you been gaining muscle again?"

"T-that's not the time for it!"

The windows were all shut, but my fire melted the glass easily so we could sneak inside, since she had cut all energy here, I had to use my flames to light the place, revealing that we just entered the kitchen

Before Shouko could say something, we hear a voice coming in our direction

"What the fuck, there's light in the kitchen?"

A large bearded man using his cellphone as a flashlight walks in and upon seeing us, gives out an expression that seems to be more angered than confused

"What the hell?! Thiefs? How did you get ins-"

His eyes drift from our masks to the flames in my hand and his eyes go wide

"Y-you! These masks! The two of you are with those weird guys isn't it?"

Stuck on how to proceed, I turn my head to Shouko, who nods in my direction as if saying 'Leave this to me' and steps ahead

"Hello, as you guessed we are indeed from the Esper Association and we are sorry to interrupt so abruptly in the middle of the night, but you're gonna have to come with us"

The man's face twists even more with anger and confusion

"Go? I ain't going nowhere with you people, didn't I made myself clear the first time? I don't care if I'm an 'esper' or if you guys are some sort of secret society, I don't have time to play around with your shit! So beat it before I get mad!"

He points outside, clearly standing his ground, but Shouko merely shakes her head

"I'm sorry, I believe there was a misunderstanding, allow me to be clearer then..."

She pulls out a pair of handcuffs

"You are being arrested for using your powers to commit criminal activities in the human world. Please do not resist and come with us"

The man's eyes drift to the pair of shining metal rings and for a very brief moment a smile appeared on his face as if he thought it was a prank

"W-what the fuck..."

He said under his breath, indeed it must have seem like a prank. Two girls much younger than him wearing masks suddenly appear saying that he was under arrest. Someone who just recently discovered their powers could never take it seriously.

However, as Shouko approached him, the smile quickly faded and gave place to a look of contempt

"What the hell are you even talking about, brat? What crimes?"

The man says stepping back and Shouko gives out a sigh

"Really, you're gonna play stupid now? Ayumu, could you light up a little more?"

"Ah, okay"

I spread my flames across the room and intensified them as my friend reached for a file within her uniform

"I'm talking about robbery, theft, trespassing, illegal gambling and many other crimes, all which you've comitted ever since discovering your powers"

She opens it to his face and the man's eyes look as if they're gonna pop out as he scans through it in disbelive

"Take a better look for yourself"

Shouko drops the file on the floor and the man, despite angered at having to kneel to pick it up, does not resist his curiosity. Sweat gathers in his forehead as he reads through the pages of photos and reports from esper investigators with shaking hands

"H-h-how did you got this? Y-you motherfuckers were stalking me?!"

If his reaction while reading wasn't enough, the nervousness in his reply was a dead giveaway of guilt even for someone totally unexperienced with interrogation like me, which made Shouko shrug

"You thought no one was watching you? You thought you could simply ditch out the Esper Association and no one would keep an eye out for what you would do with your powers? That no one would notice how you managed to move from that shithole of a house you had and now you're suddenly living in a apartment three time it's size?"

She snatches the file back and shakes her head, the man completely reactionless.

"Keeping yourself busy weren't you?"

As they stare at each other, the lights come back on.

"Oh, just in time! Now if you excuse me..."

She motions ahead to cuff him, but the man backs away and supports himself against one of the walls, as if he's weak at the legs

"Ha... Hahahahahaha!"

He starts laughing an out of control laughter, as if the unbelivable truth of what was about to happen had just hit him fully

"I really don't know what's happening anymore, one day I'm at the construction site, then a steel beam almost breaks me in half and the doctors say I miracously managed to survive. On the next one, weird things started happening, you guys show up saying I have powers, that I have to follow rules and ask me to join you..."

He curls his hands into fists and slams the wall he was using for support, blurting out at us

"Of course I rejected it! And of course I used my power to make money! These are my powers! No one was hurt, so why can't I use them for my own benefit, huh?!"

At this point, the man's face is red with anger and I can see veins standing out on his neck and face

Shouko gives out a sigh and answers with a disappointed voice

"Uhm? Have you not paid attention to anything? Or are you just dumb?"

She says taking out a batton

"When you commit crimes, you threaten to expose us espers and make us go out of our way to cover the shit you've caused. Also, what kind of message this sends to others? That we can steal and do whatever we want? No, there are rules everyone needs to follow, so, for the good of everyone in the Esper Community, I'm taking you in... whether you want it or not"

Seeing the small girl taking on him with such determination, the man's face lightens up and he grims

"W-well, I guess should count myself lucky then. They only sent two girls to take me down"

He starts walking towards us and I see this as my cue to intervene, but Shouko raises her arm

"No, leave this guy to me, I've read his file. I can take him down"

"Are you s-"

"Yes! I can do this!"

I'm taken by surprise at her insistence, however, the large man laughs even harder

"Hahahaha, you are an awfully confident kid, will I even need to use my powers to take you down?"

Shouko starts analyzing the man, her instance firm

"That's funny..."

And like a lightning, she rushes him

He promptly throws a punch at her, but Shouko uses the batton to shift the direction of his fist, grab his arm and, with his own strength, make him fall to the ground

"I was thinking the same thing" - She replies with a triumphant voice

The man tries to stand up to attack, but Shouko still has a hold on his arm and manages to make him trip again simply by twisting it

I give a worried sigh, so it's like I thought, she really is trying to take this guy in without using her powers. Honestly...

"You're not escaping so easily!"

The man grits his teeth as he struggles to get free

"What the fuck!? Do they feed you roids in freak town?"

Shouko placed one of the handcuffs on him (a little tighter than needed by the man's reaction), but soon left it there, dodging a large knife that came flying her way

She stepped back, using the batton to knock the knife away and leaving only one of the cuffs attached to the man's wrist, but her distraction allowed him to stand back up with another knife at his hand

"Telekinesis..."

Shouko said, not in a concerned voice, but in a mocking tone

"That's right, I can move anything with just a thought, how's that for you?"

The man said as if he had gained advantage over the battle, Shouko, however, merely laughs and points at the knife

"If you were as good as you think you are, I would already be dead, you can't even make complicated movements with the knife, only move it to and from you. That's why you're holding it instead of mentally shooting knifes at me, isn't it?"

Not being able to get a reaction out of Shouko even after showing his power, he got angrier and extended his hand, pulling back the knife that had fell to the floor and savagely charging at Shouko

"Don't look down on me! It's still enough to beat out snot-nosed brats like you two!"

His outburst also made the muscle mass on his body grow exponentially on his already large body. So he's also using his enhancing abilities

Shouko sensed the danger and moved her posture, she knows this is getting dangerous, how long will she play around?

The man fights like a beast, sticking knifes on the walls and punching the air while Shouko gracefully dodged with careful steps and almost managed to put him down two times, but he became much stronger than he was before and even her self-defense techniques were not working anymore.

At last, one of the knifes managed to get a cut on her arm, tearing a piece of her uniform and leaking blood onto the floor

"Shouko!"

I shouted and stepped in to intervene, she won't be able to take him down by herself!

"I can do this on my own!"

She yelled at me and jumped into the air

"Seems I won't be able to win without using my ability, that's too bad, but it can't be helped!"

In a swift move the batton connected against the man's neck, a jolt of eletricity left her fingers and spread all througout the weapon and the man's body, making him squirm and fall to the ground

"My power might not be too strong, but it can still take the likes of you down"

She says confidently, the man has not been knocked out cold, but doesn't give any signs of being able to move either, only looking at us angrily and cursing with little strength in his voice

"You... motherfuckers... let me go..."

Shouko then turns to me with a smile and panting

"See *huff*, I told ya I could do it"

I give a small laugh, guess I underestimated her, though it's normal to be concerned for your friend, even if the opponent's weaker than them.

Shouko takes the opportunity to finally turn him around

"You were a worthy opponent, but now let's put an end to this"

At the moment she was placing the second handcuff, a wave of uneasiness takes me over and I barely hear out the man's reply

"Yes... let's end it..."

As he said this, a small metallic object flew across the room towards his hand, I pointed my flames towards it and they managed to hit the object, but it was too late to stop what came out of it

 ** _BANG_**

"AGHHHHHHHHH!"

The man screamed in pain as the object fell out of his burned hand and Shouko was tossed across the room. Even though I hadn't even seem the object before reacting, the blast that covered even his shouts of pain before passing out could only have come from one thing

"A gun?!"

The deformed fireweapon of steel laid on the floor half melted, even though my flames had nearly destroyed it, I could still tell that it was a revolver

I turn my head from the gun to Shouko, who is lying on the floor motionless

"Shouko! No!"

I run towards my knocked down friend and take her into my arms, lifting her shirt to see what damage the bullet had done and what I could do before calling a healer

"W-what?"

After stripping her and seeing the state of what was beneath, the shock passes and I notice what I had failed to see in my panic.

"N-no blood... !"

Shouko's body shakes and she lifts her head upwards

"O-ouch... you didn't thought about it, huh? I'm sure you wouldn't need one, but we weaklings need things like this when we go to battle" - She says in a faint voice

The bullet was stuck in a suit armor she was wearing beneath her uniform! That's why no blood splattered when she was shot!

"Thank goodness! Shouko!"

I hug her immediately, Shouko is fine! She'll be alright!

"Hey, hey! It still hurts, calm down!"

I back away while cleaning a few tears that had formed in my eyes

"Sorry, sorry. I'm so sorry"

"There's no need to apologize, I'm the one to blame, ugh... I should be the one thanking you for melting the gun before he could shoot a second round."

I help Shouko sit up and we remove the vest, the damage left by the bullet wasn't a lot, but I still suggested calling a healer

"No, there's no need..."

She says putting her shirt back on

"U-Uhm? W-why?"

Shouko shakes her head and sighs

"This was all my fault, I noticed there were no guns on him, but failed to predict he would pull a fireweapon hidden in the house and I stalled in using my power thinking I could take him down on my own. Guess I still got a long way to go..."

Her words make me even more confused, so I insist further

"B-but it wasn't your fault, why are you refusing to get medical help? I don't unders-"

"Because I'm ashamed for making a fool out of myself!"

She suddenly bursts out

"A... fool?"

She nods her head with a darkened expression

"When I was told you'd be accompanying me in this mission, I was happy because you're my friend, but also nervous. It's my second mission in the company of a high ranker, the first one was with an instructor, so that's why I was trying to play it cool in front of you... so I could show that I'm strong"

She says with an embarassed face

"Because low level espers have limited utility on the actual battlefield, I wanted to prove myself somehow... I'm sorry..."

I stay still listening to her, indeed, there's a great difference between the things that worry a high level and the ones that worry her.

But you're wrong Shouko, this wasn't your fault

"No Shouko, I'm the one who's sorry, if anything, this was a good test... a test for me"

My friend's eyes grow huge and she stutters her reply

"F-for you? What do you mean, Ayumu?"

I click my tongue and curse myself

"High level espers usually work alone, sometimes we rely on equipment or support teams, if we rely on something at all. The fact that they are sending me and Tachan for an undisclosed duo mission is a rare occasion for us both. Maybe this was a good lesson for me, to not underestimate my opponent..."

I say, angry at myself and tightening my fist

"W-wait, what are you talking about?"

I sigh and point to her wound

"There are a lot of bigger criminals and monsters they could send me after. But because this was a low level mission with an ordinary thug, I dropped my guard and let you do as you pleased. If I had acted the moment I felt danger, I could have ended all of this before it happened, hell, maybe if I had listened to my instincts I could even have stopped the bullet."

The Esper Association gives priority to inhumans over most criminals, so I don't have much experience fighting other humans for real. When I heard of criminal pursue, I got nervous thinking it would be tracking down one of the high profile espers who make Al Capone and El Chapo pale in comparison, but when the level was revealed, I didn't thought much of it... and this was my mistake.

"I'm sorry Shouko, this is also my fault"

After thinking for a while, Shouko answers

"Well, the Association doesn't prioritize criminals unless they threat to expose us, there's very few missions to take down other humans, but..."

She then gives a sharp smile and her usual demeanor comes back

"If you feel like this, then I feel much better!"

"HUH?!"

I lose track completely at her remark

"How can you feel better after hearing this?!"

Shouko shakes her head

"Well, even high level espers like you have things they want to improve on, so this gives me hope. Also, if this helped you to become better in battle too, then I feel honoured to be part of it!"

She says with a proud smile that tips me off balance

"S-seriously?"

"Of course! Hey, maybe this was even planned by the Association, thinking of what's best for us!"

I scratch my cheek not knowing how to reply, there really are some people with a lot of faith in the organization

"Though..."

Shouko scratches her head and turns to me with her tongue out

"What you said only makes me more inclined to not let them know about our screw up"

The only reason I didn't hit her head was because she's wounded.

 **Part 2**

After taking the man in custody, we made our way to the dropping point where we would meet with the esper who will truly take him to prison. However, nobody was waiting for us at the assigned area.

"We were supposed to meet him here, right?"

I ask, looking around the empty streets in an abandoned alley behind a restaurant and checking my device to see if we got the correct place

"Yeah, maybe something happened? Gosh, they can't expect us to walk around with this knocked out guy all the way to the base"

Shouko answers a with an angered expression when we hear someone's footsteps approaching

"I am sorry for my delay, things got a bit... tied up back in the base, kukukuku"

The soothing yet disconcerting voice came from a young man claded in brown militaristic clothing, wearing a mask that only covered his lower face and a hat piece.

Looking at him, my friend immediately gave an expression of surprise and disgust

"H-him? Shit, I would rather have to walk around town with this knocked out fuck than to deal with him"

The young man was not very far from us, so she probably said that knowing he could hear. To be honest, I really don't find his presence to be nice at all, but I only give an awkward smile and greet him trying to make the encounter as brief as possible

"H-hi Retsuji-san, we brought this man for you to take to the central"

He doesn't say anything, yet his eyes analyze carefully the three of us. Me, Shouko and the passed out man. His gaze on our body is only worsened by the fact his eyes are the most visible part of his face with the mask on.

"I see, Yatsushiro-chan, Shouko-chan, you did a fine job here, but I believe a healer would be necessary to heal these wounds, is it not?"

He says pointing towards the wounds that I had failed to realize Shouko was trying to hide from him

Her face goes red and she blurts

"I-I'm fine, that was just a minor setback, the mission was completed anyway, so just take this dirtbag out of here"

She says kicking the man on the floor, so all the convincing she had to do in order for me not to call a healer was futile after all. Well, can't say I'm not thankful for Retsuji's help.

"You should treat your targets and yourself with more care Shouko-chan, after all, every life is precious in this world, kuhuhuhuhu"

Even beneath his mask I could sense that he was smiling, yet there was no hint of malice at all, it didn't felt as if he was toying or lying to us. If anything, he was telling exactly what he thought, after all, this guy is...

"Speaking of which, have you ladies decided on who you will be voting in the next election?"

He hands both of us flyers with symbols and the faces of candidates followed by their slogans, pretty much like any political flyer you'd see during an election campaign

I hesitantly take one from his hands, but Shouko doesn't

"That'll have to wait"

He tips his hat as if disappointed with the reply and turns to me

"What about you, Yatsushiro, you are old enough to vote already. Have you decided on who?"

I tremble slightly at his question, I really wasn't prepared for this

"I-I'm not a very political person and I'm a bit of a brawl head, s-so I think I might not vote even if I can"

For a moment I feel his gaze turn serious and a shiver runs down my spine, he then closes his eyes with a sigh

"Worrying about the future and the politics of our organization should be a concern of all, everyone is working to make a better tomorrow. So I ask you to consider us in the next election, for any doubts, our members will be right there for you."

He says in a polite manner while giving a slight bow, the atmosphere having suddenly become much more calmer

"Now, if you don't have anything to say to me, I should probably do my work, kukukukuku"

"Finally..."

Shouko says under her breath as he bows down and picks the criminal up

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot it!"

He slaps his free hand on the forehead

"What is it?" - I ask, concerned with what might come out of him next

Retsuji reaches for the device in his free hand and speaks to it

"Central, please send a healer to these coordinates, there is a wounded esper here who is too stubborn to admit she's been hurt, but please do tend to her"

The last part was said looking directly at Shouko

"See ya~" - He says his goodbye in a playful voice before disappearing immediately, taking the man with him

I turn my head to look at Shouko, who is pouting with her face boiling in anger

"That fucking creepy idiot!"

After managing to calm her down and accept the healer's treatment, me and Shouko went to the restaurant close to the alley, with normal clothes and our masks off, of course.

I ordered hamburger steak and she was eating through a serving of omurice when I asked her

"Hey, Shouko, why did you seemed so creeped out by Retsuji-san? I know he's a weird guy and all, but don't you think that was a little too much?"

She shakes her head fiercely

"Too much? He keeps trying to make political propaganda for that party of his everytime, even though everyone knows they're not gonna win. Have you seem what they stand for? Just take a look at that damn leaflet"

I don't take the flyer back from my pocket because I already know what Retsuji-san's party stands for.

"Balance with the supernatural, cooperation with the other world and peace with-"

"With the fucking inhumans!"

Shouko shouts, interrupting what I was saying and making the people around stare at us with weird looks

"P-please calm down, like you said, it's not like they're gonna win anyway..."

The party currently leading the Esper Council in Japan with the majority of seats includes many high-ranking, old time espers who made their life's mission to put the inhuman world in a leash and destroy what couldn't be controlled or contained, Tatsumaki-san seems to be with them.

However, there are other less agressive parties, the moderates and even those that advocate for balance. These parties and movements are probably the main reason we were able to maintain peace with magicians and other humans that have friendly ties with the supernatural and also why we have some rules about preserving their world.

"Yeah, but it's still weird... and even among the ones that want to make peace with the inhumans, his party is just too extreme about it, that's why no one likes them"

"I-Isn't a bit too harsh to say no one likes them? I mean, they did got some votes..."

In truth, Retsuji's party is one of the most extreme when it comes to it, many don't see them in a good light because of it and that's why their party doesn't have many supportes overall

"They are very extreme... yeah... almost as if..."

When I look at Shouko, she's mumbling to herself and turning her head all around to see if no one's listening to us

"Uhm... Shouko?"

I ask and she gets closer to me and whispers

"In fact, I have heard that Retsuji himself and some espers in their party are Devilants tha-"

Before Shouko can finish her phrase I shove my hands on her mouth and reply

"Don't you even say that! Do you know how much trouble you can put someone just by implying that?!"

This time it's me who shouts it

I embarassingly remove my hands from her mouth after noticing I was the one that caused a scene this time

"But don't you think it fits them? C'mon, forbbiden love is always awesome and if it's a Devilan-"

"Not like this!"

I shut her mouth again

Devilant is a slur used to refer to humans in general who have... _intimacy_ with inhumans

Just being a friend of one can be bad depending on the situation, but if it's found out that you are fooling around or even dating one of them... Let's just say the couple will not have a happy ending

There are exceptions, like Dimple and Kageyama-san or even Kusuke-san, who is not an esper, therefore not bound by our rules, but you should not push boundaries in that territory, it's seriously no good

"You could destroy his reputation with this rumour, or even worse!"

There are some extremist groups who believe that just associating yourself with inhumans makes you tainted, though they are few, they are ferocious and there were times when fights broke out between espers because of rumours like this.

"Okay, okay, no more from me on this, but... have you heard about who just started dating?"

I fidget a little before giving in to my curiosity

"N-no..."

After we finished eating, we go on as usual talking about the love life of our friends (which stands for Shouko was talking and I was just listening, trying as hard as I could not to let my face go completely red) untill we reach the site where our campsite is at, we greet the guards and the other espers while moving towards our base

Once there's no one around, Shouko glares at me with an impish expression

"Hey, Ayumu, since we are talking about love life and all... what about you and Kageyama-kun? I mean, has he never tried to do something to you? Like... at all?"

I wide my eyes at this question

"O-of course not! Tachan would never do that!"

Don't talk things like that about him! People already think he's a deliquent as it is!

She makes a click with her tongue and answers

"Oh, what a waste... with a body like yours..."

"H-hey! What are you doing!"

She suddenly jumps at me and starts gropping my body!

"Ahhh!" - A moan leaves my mouth as she starts rubbing me

"I bet you would have boys at your feet if you'd put a little more charm! Such a lewd figure!"

"I-I don't AAAAHHH!"

I let out a moan as the gropping gets fiercer on my breasts

"Damnit, what do you eat to have them grow like this?"

"S-stop, not there- ahhh!"

"And you let out such erotic moans too, I bet 'Tachan' would be all over you if he saw this crazy ero side of yours"

"N-nooo!"

There's no way I can let Tachan see this!

As my voice starts to become faint in shame, a sharp voice full of authority pulls me out of my embarrassment

"What are you two doing?"

"IIIIHH! Sensei?!"

My friend immediately lets go off me and turns around to the woman who just called us out

"S-sensei?!"

I stand up stiff and recompose myself, we both bow to her and my friend replies

"W-we're just having a little chat before going back to our dorms, that's all, hahaha!"

She gives a nervous laugh trying to excuse ourselves

The woman wearing a long white skirt with a matching jacket that leaves her stomach and the underside of her breasts exposed, looks at us

"Don't atempt to lie to me, what were you two doing touching each other at this time of the night?"

I look away embarassed while my friend rubs the back of her head looking for an excuse

"Hehehe, you know, Ayumu is going out on a trip soon so we were just playing a little before she leaves, a little girl talk, you know? Hehehe"

Sensei's aqua-green eyes beneath her thick golden eyelashes look at us sternly, no matter how pretty they are, she can still send shivers down anyone's spine with them

"This type of behaviour is not accepted here"

She grabs my friend by the ear

"Ouch, ouch, I'm sorry, sensei!"

Shouko asks for forgiveness and the pair of scolding eyes turns to me

"And you, Yatsushiro-chan, by trip I assume that she's talking about your departure to Kuoh town in order to visit Kageyama-dono?"

Sensei says in an interrogatory tone

This woman is a commander and the one responsible for me and some of the young espers around this camp, her olive skin, the messy, short, golden yellow hair with three braided locks and her glamorous body are impossible to mistake for any other woman, I give her a salute.

"Y-yes, Mirabel-sensei!"

A powerful foreign esper who is familiar with some of the most influential groups of the esper community. I admire her, a lot, but that doesn't make me any less scared of her.

"Then I believe you should be getting ready to depart instead of wasting time fooling around like this, I know you have been working hard on the last few weeks, but you should not let yourself go right now."

I nod and lower my head

"Understood, I'm sorry Mirabel-sensei"

"Remember that you are a member of our unit, just because you are a friend of Kageyama-dono it doesn't mean you can embarass yourself and the whole unit in front of him"

 _"Kageyama-dono_ ', that's how she reffers to Tachan, apparently Tatsumaki-san was her senpai and so she thinks very highly of her family too, she's always very polite and protective towards him. Tachan already told me how uncomfortable her formal treatment makes him feel.

"Yes, I'll do my best to not embarass our group, sensei"

I was assigned to her unit since we both have elemental based psychic abilities, maybe my proximity with Tachan was a factor that made her be more whatchful of me. Not that I'm mad about it! As I said, I greatly admire Mirabel-sensei! I really wanna be like her someday!

"Good"

She then let's go off my friends ear and walks to me

"E-eh?"

I close my eyes preparing to receive an ear pushing just like my friend, but instead a soft feeling reaches my hair

"You have improved a lot, keep going on this path and I know you can become one of the best"

I open my eyes and see Mirabel sensei passing her hand through my hair

"Eeeeh?"

Petting me? Mirabel-sensei is petting me!

I feel my cheeks going red at her words

"T-thank you!"

Did I just got praised?!

Mirabel-sensei walks past me and waves

"Goodbye, don't stay up late and refrain from doing... whatever you two were doing"

She waves and starts walking away as quietly as she arrived

"Hehehehehe~"

I'm left smilling like an idiot, not only I finally received permission to see Tachan, Mirabel sensei has also just praised me! What a note to go out on!

"Mou, why does she have to be such a stick in the mud? Specially towards you, does it have to do with fire and water rivalry?"

My friend pulls me out of my delusion, rubbing her pinched ear

"I don't think sensei does this out of evilness or anything..."

I reply to her

"Eh? Really? You seriously admire that woman, don't you?"

I nod

"Mirabel-sensei was the first sensei I had in the community, even if she's strict and a bit cold sometimes, I think she cares about us"

She throws me a curious glance, looks at the direction where sensei was and shrugs

"Whatever, I'm still convinced that there's something wrong with her. There's just something about this woman that she's not telling us"

I wide my eyes at her statement

"W-what do you mean? Something wrong with Mirabel-sensei?"

She nods and lifts a finger with an expression of someone that's about to say something important

"Of course! How can a woman as sexy as her not be married or with a boyfriend yet? That's obviously suspicious!"

I feel a rock falling on top of my head, that's not serious at all!

"Why is that suspicious?! Mirabel-sensei is dedicated to her job, t-that's all! S-she just chose to focus on being an esper!"

"Eh? She told you this?"

"N-no, but that's what I choose to believe, no, that's gotta be the truth!"

I blurt out, of course that's gotta be the reason, r-right?

"Tsk, tsk, my naive friend, are you defending her so fiercely because you are a beauty with no boyfriend or experience, just like her?"

"S-shut up! Y-you don't know about sensei and I will have a b-boyfriend... s-some day!"

She simply shakes head in disappointment

"Oh yeah? And who would it be? Tachan? You and sensei might be a lot more similar than you think then..."

She says with an impish smile

"L-leave Tachan out of this! And what does sensei have to do with him?"

"Hehehehe"

She starts laughing with her eyes shinning

"Don't you think there's something wrong with the way she treats Kageyama-kun and his parents?"

She says that in a suspicious tone, I don't like where this is going...

"Tatsumaki-san was her senpai, so there's nothing wrong with that"

She shakes her head with a disappointed expression

"Oh, you are being naive again, isn't it obvious? This woman either is into your beloved 'Tachan' or..."

"H-hey, what do you mean she's into Tachan?"

Without listening to my words, she points forward towards nothing and shouts

"Or she's having an affair with Kageyama-san!"

...

...

WHAT?!

I grab my friend by the neck of her shirt and shake her

"Are you crazy? Don't even joke about that! Kageyama-san would never cheat on Tatsumaki-san!"

Besides, if Tatsumaki-san even suspected this disastrous scenario to be true, this country, no, this whole world wouldn't be safe!

"First saying that Reiji-san is a Devilant and now talking like this about Mirabel-sensei and Kageyama-san! Do you have no sense of decency?!"

"But that explains a lot, right? Ah, just imagine the forbbiden love!"

She puts her hands together with a dreamy expression

[Ah! Kageyama-san, we can't, if Tatsumaki-san finds out...]

She started to imitate their voices!

[But Mirabel-san, I can't take you out of my head! Ever since we first met I've been raptured by your beauty!]

"Kageyama-san doesn't talk like that!"

She merely shrugs

"All people are different in their intimacy! Just admit, isn't it an amazing scenario?"

"No, it's not! Do you want to destroy this planet?"

She puts her fist up

"If it's for romance, then does the safety of this planet really matters?"

"Yes! It matters a lot!"

After saying this, a chill runs down my spine

I look at my friend and she's also shaking

"H-hey, Ayumu, is it me or it suddenly got colder?"

"Y-yes, it suddenly got chiller in here, I wonder..."

I then look up and see the reason

"W-woah!"

We jump as several blocks of ice fall from the sky, dodging them by a hair's thread

"This attack!"

"M-Mirabel-sensei?"

I ask astounished as the white-clad figure walks towards us with her sword in hand

"You... just what were you two talking about?"

She asks and tentacles of water come out of the ice blocks and entangle us!

"Ahh!"

I yell as it traps me and blocks my movements

"You two... talking about Kageyama-san and Lady Tatsumaki like this..."

She says that with clear anger in her voice, she was listening to us?!

H-hold on, is she blushing?

"I-I'm sorry Mirabel-sensei, I was trying to stop her!"

"No excuses!"

She lifts a sword towards us, making the earth all around freeze

"Good! Because I'm not going to excuse myself!"

"W-what?"

I look at Shouko who's still resisting the water grip around us

"Untill I find the reason why you don't date anyone, I will never wield!"

"Shut up!"

I yell it out, you are just making the situation worse!

A tick mark appears on sensei's forehead

"My personal life does not concern any of you!"

My friend pouts and blurts out

"Oh, is that so? Sensei you vir- KYAAAH!"

Just as she's about to shout again, the water tentacles tighten their grip

"Frankly, it seems like I haven't disciplined you enough. As your sensei, I can't possibly accept this!"

"Kyaaah!"

They are also going under my tracksuit!

"M-me too?"

Sensei nods and points the sword at me

"The fact that you were fooling around spouting nonsense when you have a compromisse with Kageyama-dono is proof of your lack of discipline!"

The cold water starts sliding around my body and I leave faint moan

"Consider this your last lesson before your depart to Kuoh town!"

""KYAAAAHHH!"'

Me and my friend shout to the sky as sensei's punishment lesson begins, I just wanted to see Tachan!

 **Part 3**

Today I depart to Kuoh town

Standing in the station I see goodbye to my friends before the train arrives

"Goodbye, Ayumu-chan!"

"Have a safe trip!"

"I'll be sure to pass my training as quickly as possible so I can become an active esper and help you!"

There sure are lots of girls here, I wonder how I got so popular...

"T-thanks everyone, but please don't rush your training because of me, I'm sure me and Tachan will be fine there"

One of them rushes over and grabs my arm

"I don't wanna!"

It takes me by surprise and the people at the station start looking at us

"H-hey!"

The girl with pigtails starts sobbing like a child

"Ayumu-nee is going to another town to fool around with that scary guy! I'm not going to hand her over to him!"

I feel my cheeks flush

"I-I'm not going there to fool around! W-we h-h-have a serious mission to answer to!"

Some of the girls get suspicious eyes at my answer

"Yeah, but what kind of mission?"

"You said you didn't even knew about it..."

I scratch my cheek

"W-well, he didn't told me, but the council authorized, since he's a high level"

The girl with pigtails, still grabbing on my arm, shakes her head

"No no no! Why do we have to be at the higher-levels back and call? Now that senpaku eyed gangster will take Ayumu-nee from me!"

Aren't you being a little too mean on Tachan?!

I awkwardly pet the girl's head

"You shouldn't talk bad about the higher ranked, our teachers and commanders are part of them after all"

The girl answers while still sobbing a little

"B-but still..."

My other friends join in

"Well, it's kinda scary that she'll be alone with that guy"

"I don't think Tornado's son would put Ayumu in danger... and the mission was approved by the council after all"

"But you don't seem scared at all Ayumu, could it be that you really trust on him this much?"

The girl clinging to my arm shouts again

"Yeah, he's totally a wolf! When you two are alone, I bet he'll try to take advantage of you!"

I give a troubled smile

"Tachan is a good guy, I know he looks scary, but inside he's really kind and legimately wants to make the world a better place. We've been together for years so I've seen many sides of him"

(I'll make sure everyone treats you nicely, stay with us and I promisse you'll find happiness here)

A smile naturally appears on my face as I remember what he said when we met

"Don't worry about me, if it's Tachan, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end"

"..."

All my friends look at me with astonished expressions

"Eh? What happened? Did I said something wrong?"

One of them puts a hand on her forehead

"Eloping"

W-what was that?

"They'll definitely elop after this mission"

One of them says adjusting her glasses

"I'm sure he must have asked Ayumu to go just so they could elop"

"It'll be lonely without you here, Ayumu."

Even you, Shouko!?

"Being the daughter in law of Tornado won't be easy, but I wish you happiness in your new life"

One of them says with a sad smile wipping away a tear while another one puts a hand up

"I wanna be your bridesmaid!"

This makes the girl clinging to my arm cry even louder

"UWAAAH! Ayumu-nee will elop with Tornado's son!"

What the hell are they talking about?!

"We're not eloping!"

I shout so loud that a lot of eyes in the station turn to us and I feel my face get hot

"D-damn it... why do you all have to be like that?"

[Train leaving for Kuoh town will be departing in 5 minutes]

The last call from the train forces me to swallow my embarassment, pick up my luggage and wave goodbye one last time

"Bye, everyone! See you later!"

They all wave back

"Byeeee, Ayumu-nee!"

"Good luck on your eloping!"

"Send us the pictures of your wedding!"

I slap my hand against my face in embarassment, why do you all have to be like this?

After I find my seat, the train takes off and I watch the scenery pass faster and faster.

I let my body relax and my imagination starts to wander...

[Tatseyo Kageyama has requested your presence in Kuoh town]

The day I was called to receive the mission briefing, I remember it like it was today

[O-oh, he called me about that some time ago, I got in contact with the Council, but they said I had things to do before I could leave]

[Exactly, now he got authorization for it, however, since the mission has no due time to begin nor end and we still need you at the Community's service, you will be expected to follow with your normal missions untill you are authorized to leave. Here's the briefing they told me to give you]

She held the file in her hand and I reached for it quickly, giving away my rush to see what was inside

Tachan had not given me any information besides what he told me the first time and I honestly have been dying to know more about it.

[E-eeeh?]

However, all I could do was exclamate when I opened the file

There was only info that I already knew!

[W-why is there so little here? There's no details at all!]

The lady on the other side of the table nods and grabs the file, showing a distinct red stamp on it

[This one was branded "Highly-classified" by the guy at the top himself, apparently Kageyama had a conversation with him and details about the mission can only be given personally to those involved to avoid any leakings]

My eyes go wide and I feel my hands trembling

[T-t-the g-guy at the top?]

The stoic woman finally shows a nervous expression

[Yeah, you got mixed up in some pretty messed up things, huh?]

I gulp down acknowledging her words

[B-but if it's this secretive, then I should go right away, right?]

She shrugs

[Hell if I know, this is probably one of the most weird briefings I've received, despite the classified information they sure don't seem to be in a hurry for you to go.]

I scratch my head trying to make sense of what she's telling me

[When will I be able to leave then?]

She taps her fingers in the table and responds looking at a screen

[Like I said, no idea, you are supposed to follow with your actions as an esper for the community untill you are authorized to leave, there is also no time scheduled for you to return...]

After saying this, a sly expression appears on her face

[Which means you and that boy will probably be spending a lot of time together, fufufu]

[We are not like that!]

I replied with my face feeling hot

[Hahahaha, I didn't said you were! Anyway, you should head back base for now, your commander will provide you with more information, but I believe that preparations should be ready by next week]

I noded and left the room with the useless mission file in hand and more questions in my head than I had before

*Sigh*

I lay my head against the train's window as I return to the present time

A classified mission but with no urgency status and no time to end, how in the world Tachan managed to convince _him_ to let us do such a thing?

"Tachan..."

Saying it under my breath, his face comes to mind

I want to see him again, I badly do

When I heard he was leaving to Kuoh town I got sad because I thought it would take months before I could see him again, so I couldn't have been happier when he said he had a mission and wanted me by his side to solve it. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when he said I was the only one he could trust!

But just everything about this mission is making me nervous! I mean, can I even do it?

Tachan trusts me, but I'm just good at fighting and following orders, if not for my power, I wouldn't be good at anything

And even with this power, I...

I am...

The memory of Shouko flying across the room as the bullet hit her crosses my head

I still have ways to go...

It's not long untill other memories fill my head, bad memories, terrible ones

The smell of fire and burned flesh fills my nose, but there is no fire on this train...

"Damnit! That's not the time for this!"

I say it under my breath to avoid letting the others passengers hear me, I lift myself from the seat and hurry to the bathroom, locking the door behind me

While washing my face to mask the tears that were about to fall, I try to have better thoughts, anything to pull me from this miserable state

And in my mind a hand comes out to me...

Tachan's hand

My first true friend, my best friend, no matter how much time passes by we can always count on each other

Yes... I know that Tachan would never do something bad or put us in danger

Even if I'm not good at anything else, if Tachan trusts me, then I think I can trust myself too...

I smile and look at the mirror, feeling confident again

After returning to my seat, I rest my head and try to get some sleep before arriving at Kuoh town

It'll work out, yes, whatever it is we'll solve it... together

 **Afterword:** Hey everyone! Yeah, I know, I spent months without posting anything and it costed me some of my followers, sorry :(. I had a lot going on while working on this chapter, good thing I already have a sketch for the next one, so please look forward to it.

Some of the things I did in the meantime was diving into the To Aru series and doing draw classes. The first one will probably affect this story, seeing it's a good show that also deals with the paranormal, while the second will affect another, this time original, story that I'm planning to write. Thanks and trust me, I will keep up with this story as best as I can.


	38. Dangerous Truths

**Part 1**

"Hi everyone!~"

Aya-chan says going inside the room and finding a place to sit with all the others

"So, Tatseyo, Mayumi said you had something to tell us?"

"Y-yes, I do"

I sit myself across from Liliana, there are chairs for each of us in her office room and no table between us. It only makes me realize even more how big this place is, for everyone to be able to sit across from each other like this and still have plenty of room left.

"What is it, Tatseyo? You look a little nervous, actually..."

Liliana then glances over at Mayumi, whose usual kind smile had given place to an uneasy look of concern

"You too Mayumi, what happened?"

"Yeah, it looks like your breakfast is about to come out of the other way"

Diz says looking concerned at her friend

Mayumi simply closes her eyes and answers politely

"I believe Tatseyo is the one who should explain this..."

All the eyes in the room turn to me at her remark

"Is something wrong, Tatseyo-san?"

Aya-chan asks and although her voice makes me want to assure that everything is fine, I hold back and shake my head

"Actually, no... it's about Ayumu's coming"

A look of concern emerges on Liliana's face when Ayumu's name comes up

"Did something happened to her?"

I shake my head fiercely

"No, no, nothing like that, but... I do have something to say that I was..."

"You were?"

Liliana inquires me to go on

"Well, I was hiding from all of you..."

A moment of silence takes over the room when I say this

"Tatseyo-san?" - Aya asks

"..." - Manaki keeps looking at me with her face like an iron mask

"W-what the fuck?" - Diz expression however, changes completely taken over by surprise and Galard stroke his beard with an intrigued expression

"Well boy, you managed to build quite the suspense, tell us already then"

Liliana nods at Galards words and instead of giving me a curious look, she stares at me seriously

"Tatseyo... what happened?"

"Well..."

I take a deep breath and tell them, the truth I've been hiding from them ever since I decided to have Ayumu with us

At the end of the explanation, several pairs of bewildered eyes and nervous expressions are staring at me

"Tatseyo-san!"

Aya-chan says with tears starting to form in her eyes

"You did what?!"

Diz stands from her chair angrily glaring at me

"Calm down everyone!"

All the others in the room turn from me to Liliana as she calls for order

"Tatseyo, is that the truth?"

She says after a brief sigh and my initial answer is a mere nod

"I'm sorry, but if I had told you I thought you would object and I wanted to get it done as soon as I could"

Mayumi rests a hand on her chin and answers in a somewhat amused and nervous tone

"Well, we also have some fault on that, we should have seem that it couldn't be so simple as to just invite her over"

"Young people sure are reckless, kakakaka..."

Galard says trying to keep his mood up but clearly failing as his laugh comes out as more nervous than anything else

"..."

The only one who doens't say a word is Manaki, who silently watches our reactions

"Does your friend knows the shit you got yourself into!?"

Diz asks crossing her arms

"She obviously knows the strings I had to pull, but she doesn't know the reason, once she finds out though..."

An angry smirk crosses her face and she answers ironically

"So the part she doesn't know about is the part we know, and the part she knows is the part you're telling us now?! You are unbeliavable! Goddamnit! What if she snitches on us?"

I slam my hand on the chairs armrest and glare at Diz

"Ayumu would never do that! She might be mad or even hate it, but she would never do me any harm!"

Her eyes go wide seeing my reaction and she stays without reaction, realizing how much I lost my composure I apologize

"S-sorry... but I know Ayumu, also, none of this can be tracked down to any of you, after all... I care about you"

I ask confused as to why Diz seems to be most pissed off out of all of them

"W-well this still affects us in a way too, right, Liliana-sama?"

The white haired amazon turns to her leader for backup, however, she receives no immediate answer

Liliana looks at me for a moment with her big golden eyes and I uncounsciously avert my gaze out of shame.

I know what I did was wrong, but it's what I had to do

I don't regret it. I can't regret it.

"Mayumi, did you knew about it?" - The leader of the group sitting across from me asks her Queen, who nods in response

"Tatseyo asked me to give him some time before he could explain things to you, sorry Liliana-sama..."

Mayumi was the only person I told about it right after I was done, there was no point trying to hide something from someone who can read my mind. Words cannot express how grateful I was that she let me prepare before bringing it up to everyone

To her answer, Liliana nods

"So you trust that he took the right decision by hiding this from us?"

Although Liliana asks in a crude tone, Mayumi remains firm on her response

"Yes, I do believe him"

She replies without hesitation

A little smile forms at my face even though I'm trying to keep myself serious. Thank you Mayumi, can you hear my thoughts now?

Liliana looks pensative for a while, Diz however, does not hold back

"How can you buy that?! He's basically commiting suicide at this rate!"

The tall girl tries to plead with Mayumi, but the loud sound of a staff hitting the ground echoes through the room

"Enough! Let Liliana-sama deal with it"

Galard gazes seriously at Diz who backs away for a moment and looks at Liliana intensily staring at me

"S-sorry..."

She does not sit down again, instead crossing her arms and laying on a nearby wall

Liliana closes her eyes and lays forward, looking at me dead serious

"You understand what this can cause, right? If even a word of this gets out, it won't be just a matter of you being friends with a bunch of devils..."

It's the first time I've felt this much pressure from her being directed at me . But how do I say? There's no malice, she is not mad or thinking of hurting me, it seems like she is... worried.

Yes, of course she's worried, I did a selfish thing and now I got her worried about me.

"I'm sorry, but it was necessary, without it I wouldn't have been able to-"

While I'm speaking, the serious look on Liliana's face turns to anger and she blurts out at me

"Do you realize how dangerous it was?!"

Taken back by Liliana's answer, I reply

"You are doing the same for me..."

"W-what?"

I put my hand on my forehead and say

"After living with you all, talking with you, I want to give back all the trust you have given me"

After wondering for a moment, Liliana asks somewhat confused

"Tatseyo... do you think you own something to us?"

I promptly deny

"No, it's because I want to follow the example you gave me, Liliana, the example you all gave me"

Liliana seems taken back by what I said

"E-example?"

She seems legitimately confused, which bugs me

"Liliana-sama, I believe Tatseyo has been feeling..."

I lift a hand up

"Please Mayumi, let me say it"

Seemingly surprised, Mayumi stops talking and I awkwardly explain

"W-when we first met, I didn't trust you from the start, I only followed your lead because there were other espers around yourself and that was what got me curious, but just by spending a little time with you I realized how good your intentions are. So good that you even placed your trust on someone you didn't even knew..."

Liliana shakes her head

"But I knew you Tatseyo, I knew I could trust you"

I smirk

"See? That's what I'm talking about, you trusted me knowing only the basic about me, you took me to your base, told me details about yourself, shared your dream with me, that's why I couldn't help it. The trust you placed in me, Liliana, is the trust I have in Ayumu and the one I want to place on you too"

At my words, the looks on the faces of Liliana's servants change

"Kekeke, it really becomes hard to get mad when someone is so earnest, isn't that right, Diz-chan?"

Galard teases Diz, who angrily clicks her tongue and twists her head

"Tsk, whatever, it doesn't change that he hid the truth from us, nor that he's in danger"

Mayumi has a much calmer expression and addresses Liliana

"What do you think, Liliana-sama?"

Her expression changes to one of surprise, however, Liliana still answers in a worried tone

"M-my trust never threatned my life in the way yours would, what you did was... it was..."

Liliana stops, seemingly at a loss of words

"You trusted me with your secrets and the dreams you have, right? That's almost the same thing, at least to me. After seeing how much you are fighting to make it come true, I can't do any less, I wanted to do this because I would feel bad if I couldn't trust you as much as you trust me"

Another person, or should I say youkai, backs me up and places a hand on Liliana's shoulder

"Liliana-san, I don't really understand the situation, but if Tatseyo-san believes that this was for the best... I trust him"

Liliana looks at Aya-chan and holds her hand for a while

"So that was it..."

The silver haired girl shifts her golden eyes from Aya to me and says nothing, the silence starts to bother me

"I am sorry for hiding the truth from you and Ayumu, but this was the best course, I'll properly apologize to her as well, that's why..."

I grip my hands tightly and bow

"Please allow me to place a bet on this!"

I hold my head down and hear not a word for a few seconds untill...

"Fufufufufu..."

"Uh?"

When I look up, I see a giggling Liliana with a hand in front of her mouth

"L-Liliana?"

I ask and all the others in the room except Mayumi and Manaki look at her with the same surprised expression

"Saying that you will 'bet on me' while you are in my own casino, how cheesy can you get? Hahahaha!"

Her face brightens up and I can't help but laugh a little too

Yes, it sounded cheesy, didn't it?

"But..."

Liliana lifts herself up and walks towards me

"Eh?"

I stay put, looking at her approaching me and finally entangling me into her arms

"W-what?!"

I flinch for a moment as my head is buried on her chest and her hands caress my hair

"I'm not mad that you hid the truth, but I don't want something happening to you!"

Kindness, no matter how I look Liliana is a really kind woman and although I know I'm the reason for her to be worried, I can't help but enjoy her embrace everytime I receive it

It's like I'm getting used to it...

"That's why..."

After a brief while she lets go off me and looks into my eyes

"Promise me that everything will be fine, if you can do that, then I'll believe everything you say"

I smile at Liliana and nod

"Of course! I promise you!"

With this, a smile forms on Liliana's face

Galard, Mayumi and Aya also make happy expressions

"If Tatseyo-san says so..."

"Fufufufufu, who would've thought your convincing would be so good"

"It seems we underestimated you, kakakakakakaka!"

However, there are two people who don't show the same enthusiasm

"As long as everyone's in agreement..."

Manaki says and Diz groams right after

"Hmph... whatever, I still think it was more trouble than it's worth"

Well, I wasn't expecting them to be jumpy after all... but at least they don't seem mad

Not that I would be able to tell if Manaki was anyway...

"Now, I believe that everything has been cleared out, correct? Does anyone have anything else to say?"

No one objects anymore, it's hard to say how they will deal with it once Ayumu arrives, or how Ayumu will, but for now they all seemed to have at least accepted

Liliana looks around for a while and lifts a finger upwards as if reminded of something

"Ah, I believe it's time for Tatseyo and Aya's training, correct? Diz, Manaki, could you please go ahead and accompany the two? I'll have Mayumi joining you soon"

The four of us look surprised at her at the sudden reminder

Aya-chan promptly agrees and Manaki nods saying 'okay'

Diz however, has a big menacing grim on her face

"Tsk, breaking this stupid news to us and then training with me right after, I'm gonna show you!"

She angrily states while dragging me out, what the hell is going to happen at training?!

"Fufufufufu, have fun~"

Mayumi waves with a smile, this doesn't sound like fun at all!

 **Part 2**

After Tatseyo, Manaki, Diz and Aya left, only Galard, Mayumi and Liliana were left in the room

"Kekekekeke, to think that boy would do such a risky thing in order to help us, truly remarkable isn't it? I don't know whether to be angry, impressed or both"

Liliana toys with her hair while looking at the door from which Tatseyo had just used

"I know... to think he would place so much trust on me and do something so foolish, yet so sweet, fufufufufu"

The silver haired girl couldn't help but smile to herself even though her feelings were on conflict regarding Tatseyo's safety and the Esper Community

"I cannot read minds like Mayumi nor share the same level of passion that Liliana-sama has, so it is indeed true that I first believed that you had placed an awful ammount of trust on him the moment we met, but now I'm trully having high expectations. Not only from Tatseyo-dono, but from his friend we are about to meet as well, kekekeke"

Galard said stroking his beard

"Fufufufu, don't worry, if it's a friend of Tatseyo, I'm sure we can expect her to be a good person."

Liliana said whilst turning to Mayumi

"Don't you think so, Mayumi?"

The girl closed her purple eyes and acknowledged

"Indeed..."

A brief silence followed her answer as she checked both of their expressions before asking

"Excuse me, Liliana-sama..."

Her master looked back and Mayumi bowed deeply, causing both of her friends to look at her in confusion

"I am sorry! Will I be punished for hiding the truth?"

She said in a guilty tone, making Liliana's eyes wide

"S-sorry?"

"Yes, I am not going back on what I said before, I still believe that my decision was correct. But I still acted behind your back and I am ready to face punishment for it"

Liliana looked bewildered for a moment, it was rare for Mayumi to act like this, she was really getting to see some interesting things with Tatseyo around

After brief consideration, an idea popped into her head and a sly smile appeared on her face

"Hmm, your punishment, huh?"

She wondered with a hand on her chin

"First of all, lift yourself up"

She stood right back up at this command with a determined face

"Your~ punishment~ will~ be~"

Liliana came hoping towards Mayumi like a child playing tile hop, which brought an amused expression to the [Queen's] face

'There are worse things, fufufu' - She thought to herself already bracing for what was about to happen

Just when they were a step away from each other, Liliana opened her arms and pulled Mayumi close

"This!"

Liliana got Mayumi into a warm embrace and patted her head

"You are my most treasured [Queen] and best friend, if you believe that this course of action was wise, then I believe you did what you thought was best for me"

"Liliana-sama..."

Mayumi replied with a kind smile and returned the hug of her friend and leader

 _*Sniff, sniff*_

When they let go, the old man watching both had started to tear up

"Ah, that's not fair, Liliana-sama! Such an emotional scene reminds me of the time you two were little and played around all the time while calling me 'jii-san'. Are you trying to give this poor old man a stroke?"

Liliana's face went beet red at Galard's words and she blurted out

"Cut it! Stop! I don't wanna hear about that!"

She shook her head as if trying to send away the embarassing memories from when she was younger

"Also..."

After recovering from the shock, Liliana placed a hand on the necklace she was wearing, her expression gradually turning gloomy

"Wouldn't I be a hipocrite to punish you or Tatseyo? Considering I'm hiding a truth from him as well?"

At this remark, Mayumi and Galard's eyes went wide, their mood completely changing from what it was before

They knew what Liliana was talking, but promptly denied their master's accusation towards herself

"Of course not, Liliana-sama! This is a different matter, it cannot possibly be dealt in the same manner!"

Galard agreed

"If this was a know fact, you could become an immense target for all kinds of threats, just speaking about it with Tatseyo-dono would require more than mere trust and comprehesion!"

Even though both of her servants had tried to comfort her, Liliana still looked depressed

"I know, that's why I somehow feel relieved that Tatseyo knows some truths need time to be revealed, I wonder how he'll react when he finds out, I wonder how others will..."

Liliana's eyes had lost their sparkle and became dull, almost threatning, Galard and Mayumi knew that this was not an easy subject to tackle.

"The truth that my parents... no, that my father did his darnest to hide, I wonder what'll happen if I just decided to come clean with it" - Aura started to sip from Liliana's body as she toyed with one of her bracelets

Watching this scene, Mayumi reached her and touched Liliana's shoulder, almost as if compeled by an unknown force within herself

"When that day comes, we'll be here for you"

"Uh?"

The touch of her friend brought Liliana back from her ranting, still seeming in a daze

"A young maiden shouldn't bear such a weight alone, so we'll support you no matter what, Liliana-sama"

Mayumi and Galard exchanged glances and nodded

"Not only me and Galard, but Manaki, Diz, Aya, Tatseyo, we're here for you"

Looking at both of her servants, Liliana smiled and grabbed their hands

"Thanks everyone, thank you very much"

A side that couldn't be show in public, a side that very few people knew of the "Dark Devil" and a truth hidden behind several layers of secrecy

After Mayumi and Galard had left, Liliana stood alone sitting behind her desk

"One day, when espers and devils can coexist. One day, when prejudice among demons shall cease..."

She suddenly interrupted her monologue, closed her hand and continued

"No, maybe even before that... I'll show you. That's why, Tatseyo, Aya-chan, trust in me for a little longer."


	39. Streets of the mind

**Part 1**

"That's it, Tatseyo, give it to me!"

"Diz, I don't think I can hold it anymore!"

"AH! Just a little longer! I'm almost there!"

Crap, ever since I told everyone about it, Diz has been taking it too far! How many times will she want to do it?

"Alright! So I'm gonna be even rougher now!

"W-what? No, if you do this I'll-"

"This is the final push!"

"AHHH! It's here! It's here! OH FU-"

 _BLAM_

Before she can finish her words, Diz body convulses and she collapses on her back

A brief silence follows as I watch Diz laying down, breathing hard and with a hand covering her face

"... It's the third time today, how long are you two going to keep at it?"

Manaki asks while adjusting her glasses

"And today's battle goes to... Tatseyo again! Fufufufufu"

Mayumi declares clapping her hands

I wipe the sweat off my forehead and gulp down with my sore throat before asking

"Are you alright?"

Diz breathes heavily for a while and simply gives me a thumbs up before I reach my hand out and help her stand up

"Y-yeah, you're really getting better at esper martial arts"

I've been training with Liliana's peerage for some time by now and I can say that I have grow consistently, it makes me wonder why have I never trained before

"It's thanks to all of you, without your help I wouldn't have thought about developing it, though there's still ways for me to go"

I still cannot unleash 100% of my power without strong emotions and I still haven't figured out my skill but...

"Your growth is truly explendid, Tatseyo, it's great to see your control and techniques improving so much, fufufufu~"

"Tatseyo-san is impressive as always!"

Aya and Mayumi say in a cheerful voice

"Tatseyo is improving... that's good, the Khaos Brigade will fall faster and we can get rid of this hassle..."

Manaki says, always so pragmatic...

"Tsk, I'll take a shower, see you later"

Diz quickly says goodbye turning her back and waving

"W-what's gotten into her? I thought we had a good training, is she still mad because of that thing?"

I turn to the other three, Manaki's face is as unreadable as ever and Aya is just as confused as me

"Did we do something wrong?" - The green haired girl asks

"I wonder why..."

Manaki says tilting her head

"Fufufufufufu"

The only one who seemed to understand something was Mayumi

"Ara, so that's what's happening now~"

I look at her wondering what she's thinking

Wait... am I really trying to guess what a telepath is thinking?

"Tatseyo, shall we continue your training?"

Pulling me out of my deductions, Mayumi signs for me to follow her and I wipe myself with a towel before going after the three towards an area surrounded by trees witha river nearby

Mayumi is the first one to sit and motions for us to take our places

"Let's do the mental landscape again, sit over here"

"Alright..."

I take my sit where she motioned me to and the four of us sit on a circle in a zen pose

Closing my eyes, the sounds of the river, the wind and of Mayumi's voice floods my ears

"Now focus and let your mind wander to the place of your design"

I take deep breaths and gradually all the sounds around me begin to fade away as I start to sense the enviroment around me more with my psychic self and gradually dwell into the domain of my own mind

"Here I am"

Memory Palace, you probably already heard this term somewhere, associate information with spatial enviroments to enhance someone's memory.

A mental landscape is kinda similar, by building one's own territory within their mind we can use it to carefully navigate our 'psychic self' and strength our own mind.

The more control one has over it's own ESP, the bigger and more complex can be a mental landscape, you can stretch or narrow time and space or even create animals and people, the opportunities are endless and, with enough willpower, one can be nigh-omnipotent inside their own territory.

"So let's see, if I turn this street I should arrive at..."

My father can perfectly recreate Seasoning City in his mind, mom can recreate the entire base of A-city, whereas for me...

"So the dagashi store should be around... here! Aha, I knew it!"

I can perfectly recreate the neighborhood I grew at!

Okay, it's not as big as mom or dad and the control I have over it is still pretty limited, but it's still good to the point I can use my powers here and even alter space and time to a degree

Going inside the store, I check with some pride that everything is as flawless as I pictured, however, there are no kids running around, no nice old lady sweeping the store's front and no smiling old man behind the counter, I still obviously can't create people.

Despite the limitations that this shows about my psychic self, I wander through the neighborhood with a smile on my face, a sense of nostalgia washes over me as I keep strolling by the same buildings, parks and streets from the areas I spent a good portion of my life at

Untill.

"So it ends here..."

With a knot on my throat I reach out to a blank space that collides with my hand

At this point the scenery fades away and I can no longer proceed, a white wall blocking me from going further, I can go anywhere else, except further down this path.

I've tried using telekinesis on it, but it feels like using my powers on something that's not even here.

"It's just like Manaki said, a firewall... but why?"

It doesn't make sense for this to exist, that's not how someone's mind works, this was placed here on purpose. But I sure as hell didn't built this, also, how come I've never seen this place before?

I mean, it's true that I didn't train before, so I barely went to my mental landscape since it serves almost no combat purposes, but even so, shouldn't I have seen that at least once when I was here?

"What in the world..."

I say 'what' because I'm too afraid to say 'who', if this work is what I believe it is, then finding out my skill would be the least of my problems

After trying and ultimately failing in my attempts to pierce through the invisible barrier, I gave up and made my way back into the old dagashi store.

Scrolling through the shelves, I reach and take a candy that I used to enjoy a lot as a child

I unwrap and put the brightly colored sphere on my mouth with few expectations

But to my surprise...

"G-good!"

It actually tastes good! I was able to recreate flavour inside this landscape! That's a really good step forward!

"Well at least that's some progress, haha..."

I declare with a half-hearted laugh and glance at the clock on the shop's wall

The hours on it the are not the same as the outside world, but it's supposed to help me mark the time inside with the time outside, I have a somewhat control of the flow here, so every hour is supposed to be like a few minutes outside to let me explore more freely.

Stretching my arms upwards I decide I've spent enough time here

"Ah, guess it's time to go back"

I close my eyes again and when I open them, the scene that greets me makes me flinch backwards

"W-woah! Ma-Mayumi!?"

A pair of big purple eyes smiles staring directly at me only a few inches away, she's much closer than before!

"Sorry, you looked so peaceful that I couldn't help but approach a little, did I scare you? Fufufufufu~"

She kindly laughs and I sit back up again

"Mou, don't tease Tatseyo-san when he just got back from his meditation!"

When I look behind her, Aya-chan is pouting

"Fufufufu, don't worry, I'm sure Tatseyo's heart won't give out so easily"

Mayumi replies with a playful wave of hand

"...Did you made any progress?"

Manaki asks and I shake my head trying to brush off what just happened and go back to a serious mood

"Y-yeah, just like you said, that thing is like a firewall that I can't get through no matter how..."

I declare in a voice more saddened than I intended it to

"Uhm, that's so weird"

Mayumi frowns and all I can do is nod back

"So... nothing happened? That's not good at all..."

Manaki gives a long look at nowhere and I look at Aya-chan who is also making a depressed face

"D-don't worry, Tatseyo-san, we'll get there eventually! I'm certain of it!"

Man, the mood got bad fast, maybe I should give the good news now to ease it up

"But hey, look, I discovered that I can reproduce flavours! Isn't it awesome? I just had some candy in there"

My attempt to lighten the mood gets three weird looks as a reply

"T-that's good, right?"

I say, thinking that maybe this wasn't the right way to try to shift the mood, but soon I hear a laugh that eases my nerves

"Fufufufufufufu"

Mayumi covers her move to hide her giggles but still seems pretty amused by what I said

"That's incredible Tatseyo-san, I'm really happy for you!"

Aya-chan replies in a childish manner

"I see... that's a good sign"

Manaki says adjusting her glasses, it still seems I couldn't change her mood, but the overall atmosphere got less depressing

Mayumi chuckles for a moment before regaining her composture and addressing me seriously

"Still, this shouldn't be happening, a mental landscape should not have a wall like that"

I support my chin on my hand and reply

"That's true, and it's so weird that I hadn't noticed it before..."

"Uh? Why is it so weird?"

Aya-chan asks tilting her head

Before I can answer her, Mayumi lifts a finger and replies

"When you meditate, Aya-chan, do you ever run into giant walls you cannot cross no matter what?"

The green-haired youkai girl seems to think for a while before answering

"No... no matter how far I go there's never a definitive end"

Mayumi nods

"Exactly, every creature has it's own mental landscape, even if it's in a limited form. But one thing they all share is that, just like the human mind, they are boundless. Even if you run out of territory in a space, you should return back to where you were at the beggining or something among this line, hitting a wall like that shouldn't happen, unless..."

Mayumi hesistates and frowns, drawing a curious reaction from Aya

"Unless what?"

Aya-chan asks bending forward in antecipation

However, I believe I already know what's worrying Mayumi and reply before she has the chance to.

"Unless a limiter is being used, right?"

The explanation that has been floating in my head ever since I discovered that barrier within my mindscape is ackowledged by Mayumi, who gives a troubled smile

"Exactly..."

I nod, so we were at the same frequency after all

"That's troublesome..."

Manaki says with a sigh, however, a loud exclamation follows her words

"Eh? W-w-wait a minute!"

We all turn to look to the source of the exclamation, Aya-chan, who has smoke coming out of her ears

"S-s-sorry, what are you talking about? W-what's a limiter?"

Oh, yes, Aya-chan wouldn't know about that too

"Ah, sorry to leave you out Aya-chan. I'll explain this time"

Aya moves closer to me

"You see Aya-chan, sometimes, in order to contain an esper's abilities, psychic barriers can be placed as 'locks' inside of them."

She nods

"I see, w-wait, so you are saying someone placed a barrier on you?!"

Her eyes go wide and she asks panicked, but Mayumi laughs and puts a hand on her shoulder

"Limiters come in various forms and types, some can be physical devices, some can be generated through mind manipulation, brainwashing or even by the person themselves"

Aya-chan seems even more confused now

"S-so Tatseyo-san placed this limitation on himself?! Tatseyo-san, why have you done this!?"

She throws herself against me with tears on her eyes and I panic for a moment

"T-that's not it! Calm down!"

Watching the scene, Mayumi laughs and waves her hand

"Fufufufufu, no Aya-chan, I don't think Tatseyo would have any repressive behaviour like that given his personality, which is strange because..."

She then looks at me with stern eyes

"You also don't seem to be the type that's constantly repressing your feelings, so why is your 100% only released when your emotions reach their exploding point?"

I shake my head saddened

"I-I have no idea, I always thought it was some sort of genetic thing, my father had when he was a teen, so I would have too"

I cover my mouth with a hand, that was what I believed, but is it really true?

"Kageyama-san can already control his 100% without relying on emotions, correct? Then why can you not?"

"I believed this emotional limitation would vanish as I got more used to my powers, but that wall... I don't know how I only noticed that now, was it even there before?"

The turrent of questions without answer made the mood back to getting darker, however, someone that I didn't expected is the one to break the silence.

"I do know for a fact that it was there when I first checked you, but rather than a date of creation, I believe that our priority should be finding if it was a person created it and in that case, the reason they did it, correct?"

Manaki declares and we all turn our heads to her and I give out a nervous laugh

"...Did I said something funny?"

"No, sorry, but you just reached a topic I was avoiding to go at..."

Manaki furrows her eyebrows and tilts her head

"Is that so? I am sorry then"

I shake my head

"No, you don't have to be, actually, it's the right thing to ask. Who could have done this to me? What would they gain by limiting my 100% state? Is it also blocking my skill?"

Mayumi was listening to us with a lost in thought expression

"If this was indeed created by another esper then we know that an esper's seal can only be as strong as the esper himself, do you know anyone who could have done this?"

I shake my head once again and look down to see my hands trembling, how could I know? I've spent who knows how long without even knowing it was there!

"Why did mother, father, my teachers, why did no one realized it?"

What does this all mean? When I first started working with Liliana I felt bad for lying to everyone in the community, but now I think they are the ones hiding things from me.

Why? What reason could they have to do this?

"...Tatseyo-san?"

Aya calls me and I manage to swallow down my anger and confusion

"It's okay, Aya-chan, I'm fine, thank you"

I pat her head as she smiles at me

"It'll be fine"

In turn, I also feel a hand gently caressing my hair

"Mayumi?"

I turn to see Mayumi smilling while saying 'there there~'

"Everything will be alright, whatever it is, whoever it is, we'll find a way."

"I'll do my best too!"

Aya follows with an enthusiastic smile

I smile a little at this 'petting triangle' that we created, sorry for making you all comfort me, but I really needed this

"Thanks, I feel much better now"

[Good, but you don't have to be sorry]

"Huh?"

Mayumi's voice rings into my head and she sticks her tongue out at me

[Fufufufu~]

Her impish laughter echoes through my ears and I answer

"A-alright..."

I'm serioulsy not getting used to her using telepathy on me

"Then let's continue!"

Aya-chan says and Mayumi agrees, however, she looks at me and points out

"But I believe we are done for today with your training, Tatseyo, why don't you rest for a while? I'm sure Liliana-sama must be dying to talk to you as well, fufufufu~"

She says with an impish laughter

"I'll go with you, I need to go back to work as well..."

Manaki says and steps behind me

[I'll also see you later, Tatseyo~]

I hear Mayumi's inner voice one last time and gulp, why does she always manages to make me so nervous?

 **Part 2**

We walk out of the training dimension and Manaki walks right behind me without saying a word

"..."

I start to feel her eyes burning holes in my back

I look behind me and we make eye contact, instead of asking if there's something wrong, she simply keeps staring at me

"A-are you alright?"

I ask and she answers without breaking the contact for even a moment

"Yes..."

A simple answer that doesn't leave much room for conversation, ah, breaking the ice with her is always complicated...

"O-okay..."

I continue walking ownards and the intense feeling of being watched does not go away as Manaki keeps following after me

She stays dead silent making me very unconfortable untill she finally decides to adress me

"Mayumi was communicating telepathically with you, was she not?"

I freeze up at her question

"Y-you noticed?"

She nods

"Your face was weird... weirder than usual"

Ah, that's right, I gave it out, but that last comment was really not necessary!

Manaki glances at nothing in particular and says in a monotone

"I wish I could use telepathy as well..."

"E-eh?"

Manaki suddenly expressing a desire like that takes me by surprise, I think it's the first time she tried to initiate a conversation with me

"Why is that?"

She tilts her head

"Because it would be easier to figure people out..."

I don't think you out of everyone should be saying people are hard to read...

But it took me by surprise that Manaki also has problem with reading people

That's right, even before then I couldn't read Manaki at all, even after I dropped the news that got everyone shocked she didn't seem to be even fazed by it

"Is there a person you wish you could understand better?"

Manaki nods and adjusts her glasses

"I find many people hard to read, but particularly..."

She points in my direction

"You"

I keep looking at the slender finger directed at me taken over by confusion untill her statement sinks in

"E-eh? Me? Why?"

Manaki puts a hand on her chin and looks at me for a moment before giving a reply

"I don't understand why you're helping us so much..."

"W-what?"

A mumbling being the only answer I can give, the shock of Manaki's interest in me still lingering on

"The risk of punishment, of losing the love of your family, the respect of the esper community, of your friends... why are you helping us?"

Despite Manaki's serious inquisitve, neither does her voice or expression change, making it sound like she just asked me how the weather would be tomorrow

"It's like I said before, even if it's risky, I trust Liliana and Ayumu enough that I can make this decision for the sake of our goal."

I reply as clearly as I can, however, Manaki still doesn't seem to have understood and keeps staring at me blankly before taking a hand to her chin

"Selflessness..."

With this single word she stares at me

"I wouldn't say that... like I said, I'm also gaining from it..."

Feeling a bit embarassed I brush away what I believe was a compliment and she keeps looking at me, this time without uttering anything else

Starting to feel uncomfortable again, I point out

"I'm... going to shower..."

Turning around and keep going on my way, parting ways with Manaki.

The bath here is quite large with a split onsen and separate areas for shower, it seems to be mostly made of marble, just like Liliana's office. This whole place is so damn fancy.

I walk into the man's shower area, take a bath and put my clothes into one of the shelves, with only a towel covering me from the waist down I sink into the hot water and give a relaxed sigh

"Ahh, so good~!"

I let the water bury me up to the shoulders and rest my back against the edge of the onsen a I close my eyes and relax

"Hmmm"

My mind begins to drift away and I start to feel sleepy untill a noise wakes me up

 _*Splash, splash*_

"Huh?"

I hear sounds coming from the water

"Who's there?"

The fog only allows me to see the outline of a figure untill it finally approaches me and the sight of it makes my face go red

"W-what?!"


	40. I am weird? !

**Part 1**

"Hi"

The person whose figure is partially covered by the fog says giving a simple wave towards me

"Ma-Manaki?! What are you doing here!?"

I ask outloud turning my face away from her

"Taking a bath"

She says as if it's the most normal thing in the world!

"U-use the women's side then!"

"I want to talk with you, so I thought it would be better here"

 ** _*Splash splash*_**

The water is still rippling! Don't keep moving closer as we speak!

"Why?! Can't we do this from the other side?"

I answer, still forcing my head down as to not look at her

"Liliana-sama says bathing with someone is a great way to get to know them"

"W-what?!"

 ** _*Splash splash*_**

She's still approaching me!?

"I highly doubt she meant like this! Even so, you don't have to get so close when you are-"

Finally, taken over by embarassment, I look up towards Manaki and my eyes fall on her...

Towel?

"Y-you are covered?"

I ask, slightly more disappointed than I should be

N-no, I'm not disappointed! Just surprised! It's a relieve that she's covered, b-but anyway, she's still here!

Manaki tilts her head

"Yes, but I was going to take it off once I was inside, we can't use a towel at an onsen, right?"

She says tugging at the top of the towel, threatning to release it from her body and making my despair immediately come back

"D-don't do this!"

"Uh, why?"

Do you even need to ask?!

"B-because..."

While shuffling through my brain for the right words to convince this crazy girl she shouldn't get naked in front of a guy she barely knows, I hear the door open.

"W-what?"

A cold feeling reaches my stomach as a short figure walks in and takes a long and amused look at the scene

"Oh, bonjour there, kekeke!"

"G-Galard-san!?"

A stream of thoughts and excuses rushes through my head as I think of ways to explain what is going on to the old man that just walked in unannounced

"It's not what you think!"

I desperately say the most cliché line ever that usually causes people to suspect misunderstandings even more, however, the old man gleefully laughs

"And here I was thinking I could get the onsen all to myself after a tiring day at work, hope I wasn't interrupting anything, kekekekeke!"

He says with his typical laughter

"You're not!"

I quickly deny his suggestion as Manaki wonders to herself

"I thought I could get to know Tatseyo-san a bit better, but Galard-san is here too..."

Don't say things that'll cause more misunderstanding!

"Oh, so I was interrupting something..."

I cross my arms and retort desperately

"No, no! That's not it!

I look bewildered at the scene as Galard chuckles and addresses the clueless blue haired girl

"Manaki, I believe Tatseyo is uncomfortable with you in front of him like this, remember what I told you about it?"

What? They already had a talk about it?!

Manaki tilts her head and looks at me confused

"Is Galard-san right?"

I nod

"Y-yeah, you are girl so o-of course this is weird"

She looks at me with a confused glance, but soon acknowledges and starts to walk out of the onsen

"I'm sorry, it seems my judgement on things was wrong"

Galard gives a pleased smile looking at us

"Thank you, see Tatseyo? Manaki knows boundaries"

I nod in response, but instead what she just said got me even more confused

"Your judgement? What do you mean?"

Did Manaki had some weird idea about me?

As she prepares to climb up, she puts her finger up in an annalytical gesture

"Well, you always seem pleased being taken on Liliana-sama's breasts or when hugged by Mayumi, so I thought the female body was something you were used to"

I cough loudly at her response and feel the urge to shove my face in the water to hide myself

"But I am sorry if my initial idea was wrong"

"Hahahahaha!"

Galard starts laughing as Manaki looks clueless at us

"What, did I said something funny again?"

The old man seems too absorbed in his own laughter to reply, but how should I answer to that!?

I-it's true that I might be too relaxed whenever Mayumi and Liliana have some i-intimacy with me, b-but that's just touching, right? That doesn't make me a pervert... d-does it?

"T-that's different!"

Is this the only thing I managed to come up with?! Damnit!

Manaki tilts her head one more time

"It is?"

"Y-yes! It is!"

Still not convinced by my words, she puts a finger on her chin with the same neutral expression as always

"Why?"

"I-it's just is!"

I find myself unable to give a proper explanation to her, luckily, Galard had recovered from his histeria and decided to butt in

"Hey Manaki, things like this are difficult to explain, especially for a young lad like Tatseyo. But if it's making him uncomfortable, why don't you go to the ladies proper side? I believe you can have a conversation from there as well"

Manaki ponders for a moment untill eventually giving in and noding her head

"I still don't understand, but okay..."

I let out a sigh of relieve as Manaki starts walking towards the girl's area of the wall

However, she stops and turns to me once again, giving one long glance before speaking

"You are weird, Tatseyo-san"

After this statement, she walks away leaving my head spinning

"H-how am _I_ the weird one?!"

Galard laughs again and says while throwing a towel over his shoulder

"Now, now, don't freet over it, let's just enjoy the onsen, kakakakakaka!"

Again, this is not funny at all!

 **Part 2**

"Ahhhh, this is the best"

The old man says in a relaxed tone as he sinks lower into the water

Although the temperature is ideal and the ambient is perfect, I just can't relax here...

"How are you doing there, Manaki?"

This situation has just become even more ridiculous!

"It's fine, the water is pleasant..."

I can hear Manaki answer from the wall separating us

Galard turns to me

"Ah, it's the first time I've had company in the onsen like this! It's good to have all the space to myself, but finally having a male friend here is also great, kakakakaka!"

Please don't make this weirder than it already is!

I just wanted to take a relaxing bath after training, but now I'm this situation with Manaki and Galard talking over the fence separating us

The duo talks about things involving the casino, most of which I don't understand since I don't work here, so my mind starts to wander as I try to enjoy at least a little of the warm water and moist air

Manaki directs a question to me

"Tatseyo..."

"Uhm?"

I was unfocused so I did not hear her question at first, however, Galard has a surprised expression on his face when I turn to him

"Oh, this will be interesting, kakakakaka!"

Galard laughs for a while and I feel a chill down my spine wondering what Manaki has just said

"W-what did you said, Manaki?"

It takes a moment for the reply to arrive

"Tatseyo... do you like Liliana-sama and Mayumi-san?"

Despite the hot water surrounding me, I completely freeze at the question

"C-come again?!"

"Kakakakaka! Is that a confession of guilt?"

Galard amusingly laughs

"It's not! Why are you even asking this?!"

I shout towards the wooden wall separating us

The reply comes right afterwards, in the same monotone, as if she didn't had asked me anything much

"You never answered when Diz and I asked you back then, so I thought now was a good time to ask"

"What in the world gave you that impression?!"

This girl does not understand mood at all!

"I just thought that, maybe the reason you are not embarassed by them is because you like them and not me. It makes sense, does it not?"

"NO! It doesn't make sense at all!"

She has a screw loose! This girl is definitely not right in the head!

"Kakakakakaka!"

While I desperately try to reason with the crazy girl in the other side of the onsen, Galard laughs loudly

"Don't just laugh, try to talk with her! Do what you did before!"

He was able to reason with her in order to not undress in front of me so maybe he can convince her to stop with this too, do something, old man!

"Kakaka, how am I supposed to help? Also, I'm curious too, are you really going for the two of them? Ah, being young sure is a time to be reckless!"

This geezer is making things worse!

"That's definitely not it!"

"So you don't like Liliana-sama?"

Manaki asks and I try to calm down as I my body on the water again and think for a moment before answering

"I-it's different, but... even if you want to know how I feel about Liliana and Mayumi, I can definitely say I like them, but I like all of you. I already think of all of you as my friends, but I think that's different from what you mean, right?"

I try as best as I can to give a serious answer, however, a brief silence follows my words, Galard is no longer laughing, instead he is looking at the wooden wall with a look of curiosity. It seems that he's also wondering how Manaki will answer to this

"Friends, liking... I don't really get it" - A faint voice answers before I hear the sound of water and footsteps

"Manaki?"

I ask, but no answer comes from the other side

"Hoh, it seems you really managed to get our brilliant scientist confused"

"W-what?"

A few moments later, Manaki passes by us wearing a new set of clothes

"You really are a weird guy, Tatseyo"

She says, turning on her heels and heading out of the room

I stare at her back as she leaves, speechless at what I just heard

"Again, how am I the weird one?!"

I look at Galard who begins laughing again

"Kakakakaka, honestly, this Manaki is just too much!"

Indeed she is! But not in the good sense! She is way too abnormal, I just can't get a clue of her!

"H-how did she and Liliana even met?"

I have a hard time imagining how someone like Manaki could get recruited into Liliana's peerage, let alone have so much respect for her

However, Galard's happy expression turns into a troubled frown at my question and he retorts

"Well... I believe that would be best if explained by Liliana-sama or Manaki herself..."

He seems hesitant to explain anything, considering the story of some of Rias's party mates, I don't think prying any further would do any good.

"But, Tatseyo..."

Galard says giving me a sly smile

"You were pretty hesitant when Manaki asked about your opinion on Liliana-sama, could it be you are hiding your true intentions from us?"

I feel my face getting hotter at this remark, not again!

"Or maybe the reason why you got nervous around Manaki undressing is because you're interessed on her too? Kakakakakaka!"

"S-shut up!"

I tell the old man slapping my hand against my forehead

"Oh, don't mind an old man and his jokes, however, there is something I want to warn you about..."

Galard's expressions turns serious for a moment

"Huh? What is it?"

He gets closer to me in the bath

"You know, I've been living with those girls for a good time."

And closer...

"And they are like daughters to me, all of them, even Diz who might be a bit hard-headed sometimes is a good girl in her heart"

And even more closer!

"Err, Galard-san, what are you doing?"

He gives me a smile, but this time it's not a good smile, it's a smile that's full of pressure behind it

"What I'm trying to say is this..."

Galard gets even closer and I step back, but he reaches his hand and touches my shoulder

His eyes are closed and his smile is as broad as ever, but the pressure he's giving off makes me shiver even with the warm water up to my chest

"If you hurt them in any way, I don't care whose son you are, you'll meet a side of me which is not on your history books, understood?"

I nod my head furiously, the pressure of an overprotective father is scary!

"Y-yes!"

I say it without even thinking and Galard removes his hand from my shoulder and lays back again

"Ah, that's good, now I can relax with you around them"

It's only then that I realize the meaning behind what I said

"W-wait, I wasn't planning to do anything with Liliana and the others to begin with!"

"Kekekekeke, don't worry, I won't oppose you anymore, you have my blessing"

I wasn't trying to get your blessing!

 **Part 3**

I leave the bath feeling even more tense than before

"Ah, frankly, what's up with those two?"

I walk around the corridors thinking about what I should do next

Should I go back home? Should I find somewhere here to have lunch with Aya? Maybe go to Liliana's office and see if she needs anything?"

"Liliana..."

I didn't had a chance to talk with her in private about what I revealed to them, of course there's work, she's a high-class devil and she runs this entire casino, but still...

Is she really dying to see me like Mayumi said? Why I can't shake the feeling that she's avoiding me?

No, it's not that I just can't shake it off, it's that I'm scared of it

"Is she mad at me?"

The idea keeps running through my head and before I notice it, I'm standing in the hallway thinking only about the dark skinned devil girl

And the question rings in my head

[Do you... like Liliana-sama?]

I feel my face turn head at the memory and shout

"Agh, damn you, Manaki! Now I can't stop thinking about it!"

I slap myself in both cheeks trying to pull myself back to focus

"Wondering about that will do no good, I'll just grab Aya-chan and we'll head back home!"

I go towards the usual place to pick Aya-chan up, however, she's not alone this time

"Hey, Aya-chan, Mayumi"

"Tatseyo-san!"

"Hi, Tatseyo~"

"I thought you'd be working this time around"

The purple haired girl dressed in her secretary suit shakes her head and points outside

"I'm going to grab some food, you certainly took your time in the bath"

I flinch and rub the back of my head, trying to mask my embarassment

"Y-yeah, guess I enjoyed it too much..."

Or rather, not enjoyed at all!

"Is that so? Fufufufufu~"

Ah, shit! Please don't tell me she read my mind?

"Tatseyo-san, are we going home now?"

Aya-chan asks and I shrug

"Yeah, I-I've been meaning to talk with Liliana before but it seems she's busy now too..."

I fail at holding back the disappointment in my voice at the last remark, which draws a curious expression from Mayumi

"Ara~ are you two having a quarrel already?"

I turn my now redded face away from her

"N-no! Stop that! I-It's just been a while since I've seen her so..."

I scratch the back of my head, embarassed on how to proceed. Now that I think about, it's really embarassing to say it outloud

"Fufufu, how cute!"

Mayumi giggles

"Tatseyo-san is missing Liliana-ane!"

Even Aya-chan! You two are spending too much time together!

"N-no, I'm just concerned that we haven't talked things through ever since we met and she's acting kinda distant so-"

"Ara, isn't that the same as missing someone?"

"I-it's different!"

"Fufufufufu"

Mayumi giggles again and hugs my arm

"Don't worry, we'll make you company! Right, Aya-chan?"

Aya-chan happily nods

"Yeah, yeah, Tatseyo-san won't feel lonely even when Liliana-ane is not around!"

"I-I already said I'm not feeling lonely!"

Ignoring my protests, Mayumi pulls me with her out of the Casino and into the streets of Kuromaku town

"Would you like to call a car, Kanagawa-dono?"

One of the securities asks her on the way out, Mayumi however shakes her head

"No need, we won't be going very far, if there's any emergencies you know what to do"

The man silently consents and goes back to his duties as Mayumi, without letting go off my arm, guides me and Aya-chan through the streets towards the place she said we would be having dinner at.

"I-it's so bright here at night, there's nothing like this in Kuoh. But this big town vibe, I'm really not used to it, uhhh..."

Aya-chan declares confused, at the same time she seems to like the bright colours and lots of stores, the energy of a big town can be overwhelming for someone who is not used to it

I personally enjoy though, being used to travelling due to my jobs as an esper, I really like shifting between Kuoh's calm and cozy atmosphere and the big and bustling Kuromaku

"Fufufufu, don't worry, we're almost there. Just keep holding my hand."

Mayumi however, seems to be on a whole new level of enthusiasm, clinging to my arm whilst guiding Aya-chan by the hand. And I don't think it's just because she's used to the town, but maybe she's excited to show us the places she likes?

"You're correct! Fufufufu~"

She says winking at me

"S-stop that!"

I tell her to stop reading my mind as she giggles to herself

"Look, it's right there!"

Letting go of me, Mayumi points forward

"T-there?!"

Aya-chan asks impressed

"I-it seems pretty... rustic"

The main word that could possibly describe the place comes out of my mouth

I can understand Aya's surprise, this place is nothing like what I imagined a girl like Mayumi would like to eat at.

"Fufufufufu~ don't worry, it's my treat today. C'mon, c'mon~"

She says pushing us towards the entrance of the restaurant

"I don't think that's the problem here, Mayumi!"

"Ma-Mayumi-san!"

Aya-chan still puts a resistance, but Mayumi pushes us past the entrance

"Fufufu, this is one of my favorite places~"

Inside we can see clearly lhe restaurant, it's definitely what I expected

There are families eating inside, old couples, even workers in their business clothes drinking beer and chatting

After we get inside, the man standing behind the counter greets us

"Hey, Mayumi-san! You brought company today?"

The purple haired secretary nods

"Yup, this is Tatseyo and Aya-chan"

The man greets us and a girl dressed as waitress guides us to a table and hands out menus, Mayumi however does not take it

"I'll just have the usual, thank you"

I look through the options, they are all fairly common dishes you'd find at a family dinner

"I'll have the same as Tatseyo-san!"

Aya-chan orders the same thing as me and we wait our orders to arrive while chatting

"T-this place is really cozy, how did you find it?"

I ask Mayumi, who seems pleased at my question

"Oh, one day I was searching for a family restaurant when I found this place"

"I see..."

This is really not the kind of place I thought we would eat at when Mayumi invited us, I expected something well... fancier to be honest

When I look at Mayumi, she's pouting and looking at me

"Mou, you just thought that I was some spoiled rich girl that would only eat at fancy places, right?"

I flinch backwards

"S-stop reading my thoughts!"

Mayumi gives a cute 'hmphf' and turns her head

"I didn't need to read your mind for this, it was all over your face"

"Eh? I-it was?"

Am I that bad in hiding what I'm thinking? No, it seems that Mayumi and Liliana are just really good at telling what I'm thinking... and drawing a reaction from me. Honestly, these two are really dangerous

"Actually, Mayumi-san, I was also thinkingthat this place didn't suit your aura at all. You are such a refined girl!"

Aya-chan says with admiration in her voice, causing Mayumi to give out a smile, however the smile also comes with a sigh

"Don't take me wrong, I love fancy places too, it's just that when I was young I didn't get to go anywhere cozy and... family-like such as this. So sometimes, I just like to come here"

Mayumi looks a little depressed saying this. She was unexpectedly open about herself, to the point where it made me surprised

"A-are you alright?"

I ask and Mayumi's expression quickly lightens up again as she waves her hand

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I was just lost in thought for a bit that's all"

Me and Aya-chan exchange stares concerned about Mayumi

Thinking about it, Mayumi has never really talked about herself, has she?

I know at least a thing or two about everyone with Liliana, but Mayumi is still kind of a mistery, I probably know more about Manaki than I do about her.

Aside from liking to tease people, reading minds and disliking the Khaos Brigade, she's probably the one I came to know less even though I'm training with her too.

I wonder why is that...

"What about you two? Did you like it here?"

Mayumi asks with sparkling eyes waiting for our answers

"Y-yeah, it's quite a good place"

I reply taking a look around, the homey atmosphere differs greatly from the outside streets and honestly it's quite good

"I loved it!" - Aya says cheerfully

"Fufufufu, I'm glad you did, you used to come to places like this?"

The green haired youkai-girl nods

"In my hometown there were a lot of restaurants like this! I really like it!"

She answers full of enthusiasm and Mayumi stares at me, as if waiting for an answer from me as well

I tilt my head a little

"Err, not a lot, mom and dad usually eat at home or at restaurants. Even when travelling I would usually eat at Esper Association stablishments or bases, so not very often"

Mayumi puts on a curious expression

"Esper association, huh? Sounds fancy~"

She says flashing a smile

"Y-yeah, I'm considered a high-rank in terms of power so I get a good treatment whenever I go. Speaking of which, none of you were affiliated with the Association, were you? "

Galard obviously isn't, Diz never said anything about it and Manaki was a criminal, so there's no chance, but maybe Mayumi was?

However, my suggestion is quickly shot down

"No, no, my family is different reggarding that. It's better if we don't go into that now..."

Different?

Mayumi seemed uneasy saying this, however, even if I wanted to go any further, we are interrupted by the waitress bringing our meal

"Uhmm, tasty!"

Aya-chan says as she happily digs into the steaming plate

"Fufufu, careful not to burn your tongue"

Mayumi replies as she also starts to eat, the food is quite tasty, nothing special like what I had with Liliana the night we rescued Aya-chan, but good enough for a restaurant like this.

However, we barely have enough time to enjoy our meal, my cellphone rings

 ** _*Ring Ring*_**

"Ara, what is it?"

I pick up and my eyes wide at the phone number

"I-it's Ayumu!"

I declare outloud

"Is Ayumu-san okay?"

Aya-chan swallows her food and turns to me

"Ye-yes, it's just that she sent me a message telling that she's already on her way to Kuoh town"

When I say this, Aya-chan shows a surprised expression and Mayumi answers with a slightly disappointed tone

"Oh my... well, it can't be helped then, you two should eat up and hurry back to Kuoh town to pick her up"

Both me and Aya-chan agree as we quickly finish our meals

It seems like my talk with Liliana will have to wait, for now I'll meet with Ayumu and think of a way to make her come to terms with all of this

Even after preparing all this time I still feel nervous...

I wanna see her, but more than that I want to be able to convince her to come to our side, to work with us.

Ah, this'll definitely be a tough call, maybe more difficult than most fights I had, but I promised myself and everyone including Liliana that they could trust me.

I give up on trying to guess what's going to happen and hope for the best while going forward.

 **Afterword** : For the first time I received a complaint about the rhythm of the story, it was anonymous so I couldn't answer in private. Regarding it I must say that indeed, I know it's taking a good while to get back into the original storyline of DxD, I'm sorry if for some it feels like I'm dragging it, but that's also one of the reasons I chose to start the story between volumes 8 and 9, considering vol 8 is mostly filler, to take my time to develop the new cast in a timeframe where nothing major was happening in the original plot, it will take more chapters untill we get into the Kyoto arc but from there on the stories will mostly intertwine. Also, as to why I spent two chapters with Ayumu, I didn't thought I would have to really explain it, but she'll be a major character in the story, so developing her is necessary, just as I spent a chapter with Kuriko and one with Liliana in the Saiki house, these are necessary for the story and wouldn't be here if they weren't. Hope I have cleared any doubts you might have, thank you and look forward to the next chapters.


	41. Flames arrive

"Le Fay, do you really need to follow me all the way to Kuoh town?"

Kuroka asks me, looking back with an annoyed expression, I answer with a shrug

"These were Vali's instructions, he doesn't want you or any of us wandering around on our own, we are still wanted terrorists after all"

She throws her arms behind her head

"Nya~ He worries too much, besides..."

Kuroka looks back at me with an impish smile

"I know that you are tagging along because you might get the chance to see the Seikiryuutei-kun, right?"

"O-of course not! Me being a fan of the Chichiryuutei has nothing to do with it"

It would be nice if I could finally meet the Oppai dragon in person too, b-but that has nothing to do with it!

"Uhm? Is that so?" - The smile on Kuroka's face turns from impish to an outright smug expression

"S-shut up!"

I say to her trying to dismiss the subject and she starts laughing

"Nyahahaha~, you're so obvious! It's not like anything would happen if you didn't came anyway, we are in the redhead's territory, nothing bad is going to happen to us here"

My nekomata friend says in a very carefree manner, but before I can scold her for being careless, a glimpse of red catches my attention, making me turn my head to the side, towards the exit of a train station.

"Red..."

I say looking to the colour that caught my attention

"Yeah, Rias Gremory, the redhead Switch-hime, have you forg-"

Kuroka cuts herself midsentence as she notices my attention is focused somewhere else

"Not Rias, _that_ redhead"

I point to the girl with short red hair and tanned skin who is carrying bags like a tourist, she's wearing a blue jacket and looked around as if she was lost or looking for something

"Nya~? What is up with her?"

Kuroka asks curiously and I shake my head. It was only by chance that I had noticed her, the girl gave off no offensive aura or a feeling of any kind, if it was not by her hair colour, I probably wouldn't have noticed her.

"Nothing, her hair just caught my-"

Interrupting my response, what happened next caught me and Kuroka completely off guard.

The girl who was looking around trying to find herself also turned her head as if she was imitating the movement I had made a while ago

And she... looked at us

Not at our direction, **at us**

A moment after my eyes meet hers, the girl's cute appearance drastically changed

First her eyes went wide in surprise and then, just as fast, they turned sharp, a threatning look of someone who was about to attack us emerging on her face

For a brief instant, I could feel the girl's killing intent oozing from her body, I quickly grasped my staff and Kuroka jumped back

The air around got hotter, as if a gust of wind from hell was blown against us

"Guh!"

"N-nyah! What is is this?!"

We had our instances ready, waiting for an incoming attack

However, the offensive never came

Instead, the redhead closes her eyes and seems to think for a while before quickly turning around and walking away as if nothing had happened

"W-what?"

Me and Kuroka are left bewildered, staring at the girl's back getting smaller as she walks further and further away from us

"W-who was that girl?"

I ask her with my voice cracking due to the scare we just had

"I... don't know... but she saw through my senjutsu, she can't be normal"

To walk on the streets like this, me and Kuroka need to hide ourselves from the public with her senjutsu, that girl shouldn't have been able to see us

"Are you sure? Maybe you made a mistake this time"

Kuroka furrowed her eyebrows annoyed at my suspicion

"I don't make mistakes! Look!"

Kuroka strolled towards a group of working men who were chatting as they walked through the streets

"Hey~ Do any of you hotties want to have fun with onee-san here?"

She saiys flashing her cleavage to the group who just passed by as if she wasn't there, then she turns back to me

"See?"

"You didn't had to test it like this!"

I yell at her, but Kuroka answers as if she didn't heard me

"That girl isn't normal..."

She looks at the direction where the redhead was with a serious look in her eyes

"Could she be a devil? Related to Rias perhaps?"

Kuroka promptly denies my suggestion

"No, I don't know what she was, but she smelled like human, this much I can tell"

Human... so she's not related to Gremory, I could have just let this slide and talk to Vali once we got back, but what just happened got me really worried

"I think I'm going to follow her"

"Eh? You sure?"

I nod

"Yes, you felt that aura too, right?"

Kuroka makes a nervous expression, if I felt such great impression from that girl, then a nekomata surely must have felt even more

"I never heard about someone like her in the Khaos Brigade, but she doesn't seem like an ally either, letting her walk freely around Kuoh town doesn't seem like a wise thing to do"

Kuroka agrees with me, but still has concern in her eyes

"Should I go with you?"

"No, I think you should stay in case we need to contact Vali or someone else. I'm not planning to fight her either, but if I run into trouble I'll send you a sign"

She nods

"Alright, be careful then"

I float up with my broom and go in the direction where the girl had disappeared into, finding her one street ahead

She doesn't seem to be giving off any dangerous aura, but I float higher to be safe

"Where are you going?"

Wondering to myself, I keep following the redhead as she makes several twists and turns in streets that seemingly are leading to nowhere in particular, what is she trying to do?

It finally ends in an alley of a street that seems to be empty

She stops by there and looks around as if waiting for something or... someone?

"Another person?"

I start to consider that she might be an agent from the Khaos Brigade after all, I've never seen her even though I'm part of the organization, but it wouldn't be a surprise if there were agents among the terrorists that even we at the Vali team don't know of.

But before I could ponder any further, a sudden blast of light throws me off, almost pushing me out of my broom

 ** _BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM_**

A huge ball of fire comes from the streets bellow me, forcing me to dodge and diverge my attention. When I look back down, a thick wall of smoke and fire had emerged, making it impossible to see anything down there

"T-that girl... did she do this?"

I mentally curse myself for not realizing she had noticed me and falling for a distraction maneuver like this

That's why she went to this unhabited area, so she could use this fire as she wanted, damnit!

A hot feeling on my back suddenly takes me away from my self loathing

"What is- _WOOAAAAHHH_!"

I shout as the hot feeling intensifies to a burning sensation and I am propeled towards the ground by a burst of flames that appeared behind me

"WHAT THE HEEEEEELLLLL!"

Screaming, I lift a hand and my broom descends, saving me from hitting the ground just moments before the impact

 _"Cough cough"_

Despite being safe for now, I still fell deep, deep enough to be surrounded by an inferno that had gathered in the street

Surrounded by fire, scorching heat from everywhere, I create several magic circles while realizing my initial mistake, the blast of fire was not a distraction for her to run...

Water, ice and wind magic help clear things at my immediate proximity, making it easier to breath and look around, these flames are the same ones that just attacked me

It was a settup to attack me without interference from outside!

I try to fly away back to the sky, but a curtain of flames is shot towards me, forcing me back down

"Shit!"

She's trying to keep me down here! This isn't good, from the heat of these flames I'll be in trouble if they even just graze my skin, seriously, even with my magic it's like an oven!

"Just extinguish this already!"

Having enough of it, I create several water and ice spells to shoot directly at them, but the result is that the flames charge ahead like they were alive and burn through my attacks as if eating them

"I-It can counter magic?!"

She isn't using any fire spells I know, seriously, who the hell is this girl?!

The flames also seem to move by themselves, is she even here?

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

As if answering my question, I hear a female voice through the fire, I can't see clearly amidst the flames, but her silloute slowly emerges from them.

"Answer me now and this will be much easier for both of us"

The sea of fire opens a path for her and she walks towards me like a mighty existence, even though I'm sweating from the heat, not even a hint of discomfort comes across her face, even with the flames all around her.

"Who are you?"

I ask and the only reply I receive is a fireball passing close to hitting my face

"Ugh!"

I yelp from the heat alone

"You're not the one making the questions here, I am"

Her intense eyes shine with the brightness of the flames and the look on her face shows no signs of playing around

"I-I'm Le Fay Pendragon, a wizard"

I answer, not wanting to piss her off any more than I already did.

But to my surprise, the girl's eyes grow and an expression of amazement crosses her face

"R-r-really?"

I'm taken aback by this reaction

"Y-yes... is it that strange?"

The girl shakes her head and the flames around us start to diminish untill they reach a tolerable temperature

"N-no, not at all! I'm Ayumu, an esper, have you heard about us?"

She says with a somewhat excited expression

"Sorry for attacking you, but I didn't understand why you were following me around so, hehehe..."

The redhead rubs the back of head nervously, is she... happy?

"An... esper?"

I remember hearing about them at my magician association, something about a truce between us because we are humans and espers are on a quest against the supernatural creatures

I take my time looking at the girl from top to bottom

"Uh, what's wrong?"

She calls my attention and I panic for a moment

"Ah, sorry! There's nothing wrong, is... it's just my first time seeing an esper"

And to be honest, I thought they would look very different

The strength and her fiecerfulness are what I expected, but her appearance... she's too pretty, cute even!

When rumours went around about a secret occult organization of psychics that dedicated their lifes to expand their abilities, develop technology and wage war against the otherworld, I totally imagined something like a bunch of mean looking guys with gangster eyes, aura seeping from their bodies and scars across their faces, so it's a shock to me that someone like her could be dedicated to such an agenda!

The redhead tilts her head in reply and gives a laugh

"Hahaha! That's funny, it's the first I interact with a magician as well!"

Her flames have calmed down quite a bit and the atmosphere has calmed down a lot since we started talking. I guess they really are serious about that treaty after all!

However, just as I'm thinking that, the girl's eyes turn sharp and she shoots me a question that sends a shiver down my spine

"But... what about that nekomata that was with you?"

The girl's speech changed, yes it was clear to me even if I'm a magician, I'm still human, therefore not a enemy, but Kuroka is a youkai, she must be a different matter

A rush of thoughts crosses my head as I try to think of a way to get out of this situation, I can't expect the same treatment for both of us, I have to choose my words carefully if I want her to leave us alone.

But again, the girl takes me off guard with another question

"She's the black nekoshou, isn't she?"

I freeze at her words and my eyes wide, she knows! This girl, she's even more dangerous than I thought

No, it's the espers. If they are as dangerous and powerful as the rumours say, then it's not unusual for them to know such a thing

"C-correct, so you know about that too..."

I don't try to cover or mask the truth, doing so would probably make this situation much worse

She seems to be thinking for a while before answering

"By the face you just made I assume you know that she's wanted, right? And with a very high reward on top of that, are you two friends somehow?"

I hesitate before answering

"K-Kuroka did nothing wrong! As her friend and companion I assure you that what they told about her wasn't the truth"

The girl gives me a cold stare, the cheerful atmosphere from when she introduced herself having vanished completely

"So you're admiting the two of you are friends and that you will protect her... no matter what?"

I hold onto my staff, preparing for incoming fire as she continues talking

"I was told that magicians had friendly relations with the supernatural, after all, your powers were created by copying demonic power, but to associate even with criminal youkais like that..."

She's looking down on magic users! But doing this shows she knows about a magicians power a lot more than I know about an espers powers, as I thought, I can't take her lightly

"I cannot forgive it..."

She's definitely a trained warrior, I don't know how many battles she's been through, but the way she's able to shift between friendly and ready to strike all of a sudden shows how much she must have been through.

"I wouldn't underestimate magicians if I were you, we are not simply copying anyone, we can do things you can't even imagine"

But I am Le Fay Pendragon, descendant of a Great Witch, I'll not fall so easily!

However, despite my ground standing, the girls eyes turn bored at my reply and she shrugs

"Huh, is that so?"

She looks at me for a moment

"Well, this will have to wait for another day, because I'm not going to fight you"

"Uhm?"

I reply puzzled and she waves at me

"Aside from the treaty that forbides us to fight magicians, which means we can't battle anyway, I also made a promise to a friend that I wouldn't fight anyone when I got into this town, so don't worry, I won't hurt you nor the nekomata"

I get more confused than I already was, what about those flames from before?! She nearly busted my head off!

But... thinking about it, I realize...

My back!

When I reach for it, the place where she hit me to push me down to the ground wasn't burned!

"You were just defending yourself..."

She did turn her back and left after we noticed each other outside the train station, so that's what she was trying to do!

So that means she was... holding back?

She noticed Kuroka was a nekoshou, but she still decided to leave, she wasn't trying to hurt either of us.

But as recomforting as it may sound, it's actually really bad.

The girl stretches her shoulder and answers

"Uhm? Of course, you were coming after me, I thought you were going to attack, that's why I had to take you to the ground somehow"

"I-I see..."

My feelings for this girl become mixed, I couldn't even put a scratch on her when she was determined to not hurt me, I can only imagine what would happen to me if she had her mind set on fighting. What does she want after all?

"Is your friend from Rias Gremorys peerage?"

She tilts her head slightly

"Rias... Gremory? Who's that?"

She doesn't know who Rias is? What is going on? So she's not here because of the devils?

 _*Ring ring*_

"Ah, wait a minute!"

The girl reaches into her pocket for a cellphone and starts panicking

"Ah, damnit! It's Tachan! He's probably already at the station waiting for me!"

Tachan?

She picks up the call with her back turned away from me, did this battle ended or not?!

"T-Tachan! Where are you? A-already there? Sorry!"

She says whilst bowing, but it's in a phonecall, so of course the other person can't see it!

"I ran into something unexpected! H-hey, it's actually your fault, you know? What the hell is up with this-"

 _*Kach Kach*_

Two white flaming rings come flying forward, interrupting the conversation

"Humf!"

The redhead quickly waves her hand and the white kashas are destroyed by her red flames

"Le Fay! Are you alright?"

"Kuroka!"

I yell out my friends name, of course, I contacted her, so she must think we were fighting!

"You..."

A threatning atmosphere rose up one more time, the flames around us started once again, making escape impossible

"N-no, wait! She didn't meant to-"

"To think you'd attack me while I was talking with Tachan... nekomatas sure are tricky"

Kuroka makes a nervous expression putting on a fighting stance

"Who are you and what do you want here?"

The girl furrows her eyebrows and a tick mark appears on her forehead

"I'm done talking! I have a place to be at!"

Flames accumulate through her body and she shoots them towards us

"Take cover!"

I shout creating several spells to protect us from the flames, however, they are all destroyed and we are pushed backwards into the ground

"Shit! What the hell is this girl?"

Kuroka says trying to pick herself up as I support myself on my staff

"Said she's an esper, but isn't trying to hurt us, she was just suspicious since I was following her"

Kuroka puts on a serious expression and snirks

"Esper, huh? So they exist, well, I guess it's too late for peace talks now, nyahaha~"

She gives a wry smile taking a battle instance and creating several Kashas

I put my hand forward in an attempt to stop her

"No! We have to find a way to get out of here, she's too strong, Kuroka!"

Despite my exclamation and the clear difference in power, Kuroka smiles

"I know, I'm just buying time for him"

"H-him?"

I look around but no one seems to be coming

"W-wait, there's no need to call anyone! She's going to leave already, she said she didn't come here to fight!"

Kuroka keeps her smile and shows no signs of backing down

"Sorry Le Fay, you know how that guy is, when I said there was a new strong opponent here in Kuoh he was right on his merry way. Besides..."

Kuroka jumps straight ahead and says

"I have no intention to let someone this dangerous wandering around in my little sister's town, nyah~"

The Kashas fly towards the red haired girl, who quickly destroys them with her flames

"You are pissing me off!"

The red fire moves around rhytmically, I create a barrier to protect me and Kuroka, but it's broken and we are entangled by the flames, which surpringly do not hurt us despite the heat

"I decided not to burn both of you, but since the nekomata decide to show her face, I'll leave you a little gift"

The redhead pulls out a seal from her belongings and throws towards Kuroka

"I knew this technique would come in handy!"

"Ughhh! Ahhhhh!"

Kuroka screams when the seal hits her and the flames that were holding her turn into red chains

With a triumphant smile, the girl declares

"This is a sealing technique, [Red Binding Chains], now you cannot use Senjutsu or Youjutsu without being turned into ashes"

The tone of her voice does not give out a single shred of mercy

"K-Kuroka!"

The flames entangling me are released and I rush to my friend

"Ouch!"

When I touch the chains binding her, they are scorching hot!

"Ahhh!" - Kuroka, who is now down on the ground, screams too, as if the chains had also burned her!

Watching me, the girl shakes her head

"Tsk, tsk, you can't do that, anyone other than me who touches these chains will be burned along the with the person binded by them"

Sealing techniques?! I didn't knew espers could do such a thing and to a level of this degree!

I create a magic seal of my own in order to try and undo it, but the redhead speaks up again

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. See, I never tried using magic on it, but my chains are programed to burn the person attached to it if they try to take it off using supernatural powers, so maybe you should think twice about that"

She says smiling again!

"What is up with you? I thought you said you weren't trying to hurt us!"

She puts her hand against her forehead and says

"I'm not, but I can't let a wanted youkai wander around freely either, consider this a middle ground. Well, goodbye!"

She says waving and preparing to take off, however, at this very moment, something stops her on her tracks

A gust of strong wind followed by a very familiar voice

[Half Dimension!]

The flames around us shrink in size enough for the heat to become bearable, however, it barely lasts a moment as they come to full life once again

"Guh! You took your damn time..."

Kuroka says trying to muster a smile despite the pain that the seal caused on her

With a death glare, the redhead stares at the person that just arrived

"You... who the hell are you?"

Unlike the way she looked at me and Kuroka, she looks at him with eyes who can only be described as dead serious.

As expected, if she could tell that I was tracking her, she can definitely sense how big is the difference between me, Kuroka and him in terms of power

Folding his arms, the handsome white-haired boy declares

"I am Vali Lucifer! Descendant of the original Lucifer household and bearer of the Hakuryuukou! And who the one that just attacked my friends would be?"

Vali is here! Kuroka really called this guy to help us in battle!

The redhead quickly annalyzes him from head to toe and sighs

"Luci...fer? I have no idea what the hell you mean by that, but by Hakuryuukou I assume you mean the Vanishing Dragon? Tenryuu Albion? Is this why your wings are different from normal devils? I thought that the legendary Hakuryuukou's host would look more... impressive"

It's clear that she's not believing anything that Vali says, of course not! Unless you are on par with the situation, the things he's saying sound like chuunibyou delusions!

"H-hey, Vali... maybe you should-"

I try to talk with Vali, but I'm interrupted by the girl who answers him confused

"I don't really care what you are, but you are pretty powerful for a devil and this aura of yours isn't half-bad either..."

Is she taking Vali lightly?!

Vali gives an angry smile

"Pretty powerful? Hahaha, you got some guts, girl!"

He answers clearly amused by the response

Vali is standing between us and the girl as I hold Kuroka in my arms trying as best as I can not to touch the red chains

I slowly help her up and look at Vali's back, noticing something that makes my eyes almost pop out of my skull

"V-Vali, your back..."

His back, the dragon wings with their blue energy feathers...

They were burned! She managed to get a hit on Vali? W-when? Even when he was dividing the flames?

"That's nothing, it was just a scratch, it actually got me even more pumped to fight her"

It's not just a scratch! She just damaged the Light Wings of the Hakuryuukou! That's not something that even a normal magician would be able to do!

I stare in shock as the redhead clicks her fingers, creating a ring of flames in front of her from which several spears of fire emerge, the intensity of them can be felt from here! This thing could devastate the neighborhood if she uses them!

"I wish we could solve things peacefully for me to walk away, but I don't think that's an option anymore, right?"

Sensing the clear danger of this situation, I plead with Vali

"Wait, Vali! This is Rias's territory, you can't just start a fight on it!"

These two are way too powerful to be fighting in the middle of the day like this!

However, the leader of our group shows a fearless smile with no signs of stepping back

"Sorry Le Fay, but when I see a strong opponent, I just have to fight them. Also, these chains were made by her, right? So, if we wanna get Kuroka rid of it, I think we'll have to fight on"

He says this, but there's gotta be a way to remove them without fighting!

"Go back and have Bikou and Arthur see what they can do, meanwhile I'll try to extract some info from our new guest"

All of the words he spoke to me were said without taking the eyes of the girl for even a moment, he is dead set on fighting her, saying that he wants to free Kuroka is just an excuse!

"You talk big even for a devil, let's see what you got in there then!"

And she's just feeding his fire! Please stop it! Didn't you say you didn't want to fight?!

"Le Fay, please cast a barrier around this area so commoners won't be attracted here"

I try to come up with a protest, however I swallow it. It's useless trying to argue here, he's determined to fight, even more after being mocked

"A-alright, but be careful, Vali"

He shows a fearless with his eyes still locked on the redhead

"I am not the one who has to be careful"

I sigh at his cockiness and cast a barrier around the area while grabbing Kuroka and casting a teleportation seal

"Don't worry Kuroka, we'll find a way to remove this"

As we leave, the two stare at each other, the redhead now also seems completely oblivious to our presence, focusing entirely on Vali

"So, you still have not told me your name, don't you know it's impolite to not introduce yourself?"

The light from my magic envelops us and I hear a bold declaration from the redhead as we depart

"There's no need to give my name to an inhuman"

 **Afterword** : Thank you all for the reviews and feedback! I love seeing comments and how many new followers and favorites I'm receiving

Now onto answering some readers questions

 **About the lenght of the story until the Kyoto arc** : Taking into account that the Kyoto arc starts with Issei and Sairaorg having a mock fight in the Gremory underworld residence, I assume it'll take 7 or 8 chapters from here untill there. I'll just go ahead and say that Rias and Sairaorg will have a big surprise when that happens.

However, I must really ask, are you not enjoying the chapters so far? Even if they are introducing the story, they are still crucial to it and I tried to make them as best as I could, Tatseyo and the others are not replacing the original cast, so many times they'll not be doing the same things that happened in the original story, there'll be times they could be in the same place but doing entirely different things, as it should be obvious, but I hope you'll all enjoy it.

 **Regarding the similarities between Mayumi and Akeno:** I assure this was made on purpose, the teasing Onee-san trope is fairly used in anime so I knew that she and Akeno would seem very alike at the start, but all the characters have a backstory that I started developing along with their design. None of the new cast has been fully stablished or developed so far, not even Tatseyo. This fic will be a long story, so every character will have their time to shine and show who they are and, perhaps, what they have been hiding?

 **Regarding the similarities between Ayumu and Irina:** I honestly have no clue where that came from, is it because they are both childhood friends with the protagonist or because they serve a greater organization? I could understand if she was compared with Xenovia, seeing as they are both built as 'tomboys', but Irina is the cute cheerful type that easily gets carried away and has an undying faith, I honestly don't know why you would see both as similar. Maybe I didn't pass the message correctly in her two chapters, but regardless of that, as I said before, none of the characters have show even a half of the character I plan to build for them, all I can ask is for you to be patient and wait for it, things haven't even got close to get heavy yet, these chapters, as you correctly stated, were mostly used to build the universe and introduce the characters. However, I do appreciate any feedback and will do my best to tend to the expectations of my story.

 **Tatseyo 'helping the devils for free':** I assume the person that wrote this must not have paid much attention to the chapters where Tatseyo's motivation were clearly outlined, I suggested that person to re-read chapters from "Revelations and Considerations" untill "Analysis" where I believe I made them clear. The person did not answer, but anyone who still has doubts can feel free to message me and help improve my writing.

 **About Tatseyo and Issei:** I do not and never did planed to make Tatseyo and Issei similar characters, I do not know if they ever felt similar to anyone but I'm always trying to make them clearly different. I like Issei as a character, he's one of the reasons I like DxD, but from the very beginning I assumed I made clear how different they were, not only that, but I also do plan on using their differences in a way to give more depth to their interactions.

 **About Tatseyo becoming a devil:** That has been asked for a long time, whether through inbox messages or comments, but seriously, either denying it or affirming it would be a huge spoiler, so I'm not touching that subject, if you think that because of the story's title, you should keep reading to find it out.

Thank you all for reading and look forward to the next chapters!


	42. Fire Fighter

The boy with white hair smirked at me when his companions left

"So you did let them escape without doing anything"

I shrug

"I didn't came to this town to fight, at least I didn't meant to, but this sure is one hell of a welcoming party"

Honestly, right when I promised to Tachan there would be no fights, this happens

Running away? Well, I could try, but I faced a fair share of demons in my life, and this one is not the type I should give my back to, at least not carelessly.

If I want to run away from him, I am going to need a very good distraction... and I honestly don't know if I can create one good enough to get him

"So, I think you made the first attack, are you waiting for me to do the next one?"

He says showing the wings who were burnt just when he showed up

"You actually did a pretty good job, my flames were most likely trying to set your whole body on fire, but it seems you extinguished them before that could happen"

I lift my hand pointing out

"This ability of yours is a pretty big pain in the ass, but you better start playing serious because..."

My flames intensify, I was holding back with the nekoshou and the blonde magician but with the barrier set by her, that limitation is no more

"If you don't take this seriously you'll burn to ash"

Giving a brave smile, he gets into a fighting stance

"Ho, that's pretty serio-"

Interrupting him, I throw my spears in his direction

"Ha! You damn...!"

He exclamates and quickly creates demonic bullets to counter them, but I change their direction still trying to get a full hit

"Espers attack first!"

He skillfully shifts his body mid-air, actually managing to dodge before the wounds got too deep, he's not just fast, he's also much more flexible than his body makes him look! I make the spears change direction again while shooting even more at him, however, as they are about reach, a deep voice shouts

[Divide!]

Just as that is said, the first wave of spears that scraped his body is reduced, giving him enough space to fly away from their reach and send his own magical shots to counter mine, this time on much larger amounts

"Hahaha! You really attacked me while I was talking, do you have no fighting honor?"

I click my tongue, how did he do that? I was sure my spears were going to pierce him!

"Honor? I'm trying to get you out of my way, don't expect any fair play from me. Besides, I told you espers always make the first move."

Another smile shows up on the boy's face, he seems to be really enjoying this, even though there are clear smoking wounds where I managed to graze him

"Heh, guess I have to take you seriously since you did managed to get a hit on me, this flames of yours are quite dangerous. You espers have exorcism powers too, right? I felt that when you hit, if it was a bullseye, I would be quite injured."

Even though he says those words, his confidence does not diminish even a bit. I cover myself in fire and prepare a new wave of arrows to throw at him

"So you've noticed, your powers are a pretty big pain too, but can you keep it up with mine?"

To my provocation the boy laughs joyfully again

"Hahaha! You heard that Albion? We just received a challenge from a lady, I think it will be impolite if we don't show what we can do!"

The same voice from before speaks again as the big blue wings start to shine

[Finally, I was wondering how long you were going to let this girl play around with us]

After giving this proud answer, the mysterious voice declares as a bright aura envelops the boy's body

[Vanishing Dragon Scale Mail!]

When the light fades away, the boy is wearing a glamorous white armor, his aura also seems to have increased quite a lot both in quality and quantity

So he wasn't using his full power, this is bad. I really can't hold any punches with him

I reach my hand out for the red jewel that's currently hidden by my shirt.

If I were to use this power now, I can escape, maybe even defeat him...

"No, it's too risky..."

I say under my breath as let my hand go of it

It's too uncertain, I haven't even used in a true fight yet, this should be a last resort untill I can get used to it.

"You made me take this form, now show me what you got!"

Charging with his wings, the boy comes flying right at me with a blade of energy on his right hand and a seal with magical attacks being shot at me from his left

"Burn to death!"

I yell, sending several of my flying spears counter his magic while also surrounding him with fire

"You are good!"

But this time his bullets are actually able to compete with my fire, changing directions and overwhelming mine!

He's closing in, shit! I don't want to get into close range combat at least untill I figure out the mistery behind his skill.

"I'll break everything down if I have to!"

[Hell's Wall!]

"Huh?"

He questions as a wall of fire, stone and half-melted steel is lifted from the streets and gets between us.

Steel from pipes and structures, stone from the ground and from the buildings around us, everything combined with my flames, using them I can force things to move, my control is not nearly as good as a telekinetic, but if it's only for this, then it's more than enough!

I make the fire start to circulate around him like a typhoon and eventually surround his body, with this, I can distract him with the fire and create a cocoon of fire, rock and molten steel that'll limit his oxygen, this way, even if my flames don't destroy him, he'll pass out from lack of oxygen!

I didn't want to use this movement earlier because I also need to make sure the enemy can't escape, but mostly because it also blocks my view of them, and even if I still can sense them, it's still dangerous to do such a thing with an opponent so fast

[Divide! Divide! Divide!]

"W-what?"

I feel my attack being reduced and he's doing it much faster than he did when he arrived!

"Hahaha! You are good!"

I intensify the fire trying to keep up with his dividing, but it's too taxing! I have to make him stop if I want to trap him here!

I send several attacks but he still is able to use his magic to destroy them

"Ugh!"

I groam as my attempts to keep he in are destroyed

"What, are you done already?"

He gleefully declares while escaping the grip of the fire cage and rising above

"I'm not losing to you!"

We continue our duel of flames versus demonic power, it's still impressive how he can counter me so easily. I can keep up with his speed enough to avoid his charges, but if this keeps up, I'll probably run out of power before him.

"Guh! I have no choice then!"

If I want to win, I need to make something bold

Creating a pair of flaming swords, I stop my showering of fire arrows and stand still

"Had enough of running away?"

 **CLANG**

At full speed the boy flies towards me, we clang swords, his white-blueshish one with my red ones

"Ugh!"

I screech in pain, as expected, in physical strength he's superior to the point where just trading blows with him is enough to make my arms sore.

There's really no choice then

I step back and and close my arms, making my swords disappear and creating a large shield of fire

"Are you going on defensive now? Interesting! Let's see if your shield can block my sword"

He says swinging the energy blade down and an expression of confusion appears on his face as the sword phases through the shield and gets stuck

"Uh? What is this?"

"I wasn't trying to defend myself..."

I say looking in the eyes of the armour

"It's actually the opposite"

My shield starts glowing and in a split second both of us are enveloped by fire

 **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

A large explosion blasts the armored boy away and pushes me back, my feet planted on the floor allow me to hold my ground and not be sent flying like he was

It worked! Distracting him by making him think that I was going on defensive and them making this suicide attack actually worked!

"S-shit..."

I say while pulling myself together and noticing all the bruises that had appeared on my body. Even if my fire doesn't burn me, the impact of the explosion did a number on me, but it couldn't be helped, if I tried to do it from long range he would defend just like he did with the other attacks, this was so I could finally have a chance to take him down.

"Y-you damn..."

The boy says as he starts standing up, his armour is broken and I think I can see blood, but this is not the time for it!

[Hell's Wall!]

Once again, I lift a dome of fire and debris around and encase him before he can react

"Y-you!"

I hear the boy's exclamation from inside the firestorm and smile

Yes! It worked!

The fire starts compresing more and more as the stone and the iron start to fuse and my prison starts taking shape

However, my joy is short lived as the voice from inside the boy speaks again, this time with other words

[Half Dimension!]

...!

In a flash, all of my flames and all the material I gathered are reduced, leaving several gaps in the trap I was trying to build!

 ** _Blam!_**

Releasing a wave of aura, the boy destroys all my attacks once again

"This power...!"

Once it's over, we stare at each other for a moment

His armour has been burnt in several places from where now I could see his real body through, I managed to burn through it and a small pool of red liquid had gathered on the ground around him, I can finally confirm that I actually managed to get blood out of him.

It also seemed that he was panting, maybe due to the lack of oxygen I had created inside that typhoon

I smile a little, so it somewhat worked least, maybe this'll convince him I'm more trouble than it's worth

"You did pretty well..."

I said while trying to hid that I was panting as well, trying to disguise my fatigue after having to keep up with him

"Ha... it seems so, you also aren't half-bad"

The boy says this with his usual pride, however, he seems to have become more serious now, no more of the cheerfulness from before could be felt from him

[Vali, you can't underes-]

As it seemed that the voice would begin to scold him, the boy lifted his hand and replied

"I know, I know, Albion, no need for lectures now"

The white armour shines and is immediately repaired, he adjusts his posture and rubs his shoulder

"You got me there, now I have no choice but to acknowledge you..."

He suddenly vanishes from my sight!

!

I turn around and manage to block the attack from his light blade moments before it hits me

"I respect you as an opponent!"

He declares and starts swinging his sword much faster than before! I block his attacks with a lot more difficulty and start to cast fire from all around in order to try and destroy his armour

"Ugh!"

I kick him away and propel myself backwards to escape from close quarters whilst summoning a shower of fire, but with a huge release of aura he destroys them instantly

His aura doesn't stop at just destroying my attacks either, instead it keeps increasing and it's soon shot towards me as well, forcing me to release my own aura to stop it from hitting me

 ** _CLASH_**

Both our auras collide violently, leaving a trail of destruction and a huge blast where they met

The boy takes a moment to look at the aftermath our the collision

"What a beautiful red colour. Hey, Albion, it seems that we are destined to fight people with Red as their aura, huh?"

He talks as if referencing to someone else

[Are you comparing her to the red one? He would probably be offended to hear such a thing]

The boy smirks and acknowledges the words from the voice

"Heh, you don't come close to a Heavenly Dragon, but you are a good fighter"

He says closing his fist, he's still blabbering about this tenryuu crap? Is he serious about it?

"Indeed, my destiny is to fight with the Seikiryuutei while I become even stronger, that's why I'm glad there are opponents like you..."

I close my guard and hold back another barrage of attacks

He manages to close the distance instantly once again and our swords collide

"Overcoming you means becoming stronger!"

He isn't joking around, shit! I gotta think of something and it's gotta be fas-

[Divide!]

 _SPLAT_

"H-Huh?"

A sharp pain is shot through my body and I look at my shoulder to see the blood coming out of it

"I divided the energy on your sword to create an opening"

The boy says this as panic rushes through my body and I create a burst of flames towards him propeling myself backwards

"Ah... ah... shit!"

I grab my shoulder and use my flames to cauterize the wound, that's my fault for allowing him to get the combat into close range even though I knew he could reduce my flames

"Now I'm sorry, but I'll be ending this fight"

[Divide!]

The voice resonates once again and feel my body growing weaker and fall down to one knee

"W-what the hell?"

So he can take away the energy from me as well?! Not just the flames? That's so unfair!

 _BLAM_

Several demonic rounds are shot towards me once again, but this time, my power is not enough to hold them back! Several manage to bypass me and I get hit straight and sent backwards

"Ughhh!"

I groam and try to stand to up again, only to feel my body growing even weaker

[Divide! Divide!]

"Don't try to fight back now, you'll just embarass yourself"

I stumble, barely able to hold my ground. Shit, is this the end?

...

No, it isn't

I still have an ace up my sleeve

Reaching my hand into the collar of my now torn shirt, I feel the red jewel from before.

If this should be used in an emergency, then it's now

However, I hesitate

Is elevating my power enough to beat him? Or even enough to run away? I cannot underestimate this guy, if I want to beat him I have to find a weakness before I show my trump card

Noticing my clear desperation, the boy replies

"Don't worry, I'm not planing to kill you, I don't take pleasure in doing so, but I'll have to make you undo the seal you cast in Kuroka and then... maybe I should send you to Rias Gremory afterwards? This is her town after all..."

He says it so nonchalantly, it's like I'm not even a threat anymore! And who the hell is this Rias Gremory they keep talking about?

No, that's not the time for it, damn Ayumu, think of something! How can I face Tatseyo if I fall down here?

I look at the boy approaching me and seconds feel like hours as I try to think of a way out until a realization hits me

!

"My flames when he arrived...!"

Saying the sudden thought under my breath, I feel more stupid than I probably ever felt in my entire life

"Hahahaha! Of course, that was it!"

My suddent outburst makes the boy hesistate for a moment

"Huh? Have finally lost your mind at the prospect of losing?"

I slowly and stumbling stand back up as I reach for the jewel in my chest, a big grin drawn on my face

"The only one losing here today is you!"

Releasing my aura towards the gem, a bright red glow envelops my body and I feel my strength coming back as my flames burst out

"I'm back!"

I declare pointing one of the swords that appeared in my hand towards him

However, the boy stands still, looking at me as if paralyzed

"W-what? You are just going to stand in there?!"

I shout at him and the reply comes from the voice that shouted the names of his abilities

[What the hell is this supposed to mean, partner?]

The boy takes a hand to his chin and answers confused

"Maybe she gains power by exhibitionism... what a weird woman..."

Noticing what they were talking about, I quickly put my hands around my body trying to cover myself up

"S-shut up! I didn't choose the design, alright?!"

How the hell did I forgot about this shameful clothing?! Uhh, am I really going to have to fight like this?

"Well it seems like your aura was restored, no, maybe it's stronger than it was before? Hah, you really are full of tricks! I'm so happy I was able to meet an opponent like you!"

Is he brain damaged?! How can someone be so happy about fighting?

"You won't be so happy after this!"

I charge him right ahead, blades pointed at him and leaving a trail of fire behind as an explosion is created behind me!

Seeing my bold approach the boy asks

"Ha! Have you forgot that you're still under the effects of [Divide]?"

He swings his weapon down at me

"I haven't, but I'm soon going to see how long you can keep it up!"

Strings made of flames come out of my back as the boy lifts his sword to attack me

"Extra arms won't make you faster!"

He says whilst his blade approaches me

[Divide!]

I feel my strength leaving my body once again, but I have to endure it! Just a little more!

"I wasn't aiming at you"

I say as the strings faint their movements and grab my real target

The wings at his back!

"W-what?!"

 _CRASH_

He shouts in surprise as my flames bypass his guard and damage his blue wings

I smile and punch him in the face as he lets his guard down, a burst of flames from my face burning half of his helmet away

"Kuh!"

Using this opening, I distance myself from him with a burst of flames and shoot several arrows of fire that are countered by his demonic bullets

"Go ahead! Divide my powers now that you have no way to get rid of the excess energy!"

I stand still, nervously waiting to see if my plan worked out untill I realize that indeed

That godforsaken "divide" crap was no longer here!

"Hahaha! It worked!"

The boy stares at me completely taken aback

"H-how did you...!"

I finally sense rage into his voice as I charge forward

"You know, I'm not the smartest girl in the world, but to have my flames outsmarting me... this is too much..."

I say with a smirk and a sarcastic laugh

"Y-your flames?"

The boy asks as we cross swords once again and I jump back sending a wave of fire arrows that are deflected by his aura

"Remember when you first arrived and reduced my flames, but when they sprang back up they went right for your wings?"

I smile remembering the scene

"I wondered why your wings... You see, my flames can work automatically to protect me or to attack, that can be a blessing or a curse, in this case they were actually smarter than me"

The boy seems to understand where I'm getting at and answers in shock

"Are you telling me your flames noticed that my wings were the place that my surplus energy was dispensed before you did?!"

I laugh once again and nod

"Hahaha, I know, that's ridiculous, right? And I only managed to piece everything together by noticing the amount of energy that your wings gave out, I actually have a friend that controls energy too, you know? Though..."

I sidestep dodging his sword and striking with my blades

"He's levels above you in energy manipulation!"

The boy blocks it, but only this time his face turns pale as a sound comes from his weapon

 _Crek Crek_

 **CRASH**

My blades manage to break through his and cut through his armor right away! Just like Kusuke-san said!

"Kuah!"

The boy shouts and steps back, sending a wave of aura which I counter immediately

"Shit!"

He says losing his composure

I look at the blade which pierced him, it's covered in blood! I finally have a chance to beat him!

"Guh!"

Just as I thought that, tiredness started to take over my body

I'm being careless, not only I've been fighting with everything I got over the course of who knows how long I've been here, but this armour also seems to be draining my stamina. Of course a power like this wouldn't come for free.

"Y-you are good, girl, I give you that. But even without my [Divide] I can still beat you to a pulp"

He says creating several magic circles, seemingly not even close to be as exhausted as I am

That's it, if I'm gonna win this, it will all come to this final round!

"Alright, let's burn down the house!"

I channel almost everything I have left in conjuring more and more flames to counter his attacks and charge towards him

"That's the spirit! It's no good defeating an opponent that's not giving his all!"

The boy charges at me with the same fiercefullness

I focus my aura on my blades who become red-hot and an explosion is heard as soon as I step towards him

""This is the end!""

We say at the same time, aiming our attacks at each other

Moments feel like hours as our blades and bullets are aimed at one another and just before impact, a colour spectacle annulates all of our attacks

"Uh?!"

"W-what is this!?"

We both reply, confused as to what happened

His blade stands right in front of my face, not moving an inch

This could be my chance to hit him, this moment when he's totaly helpless seems like my golden chance...

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm stuck in place as well!

Suddenly, ice starts creeping out from all around us, making my flames diminish and growing even more untill it's surrounding us

"W-what the hell?"

I ask as a figure emerges from behind the white haired boy and taps the shoulder of his armor

"Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?"

He barks, trying to look at the figure but unable to move himself

"That was rather easy... you two were so caught up in your battle that didn't even notice our approach"

He replies and my eyes wide as I recognize the figure that just spoke

"Now, may I ask you to step aside, Mr. Lucifer?"

The figure asks

"After all, the person you are trying to hurt... is my dear friend"

My excitement finally reaches it's peak and I shout outloud

"Tachan!"

 **Afterword** : I actually laughed a little at guest's comment about espers being too OP because this chapter about Ayumu struggling trying to defeat Vali was already on sketch. Don't worry, there'll still come plenty of situations where the espers will struggle against enemies, whether they are inside or outside forces.

Thanks for the reviews, especially to Guest-Questioner, it's good to see that readers are appreciating the effort I'm trying to put into building the characters


	43. Crashing down the Light Wings

"Woah, Ayumu, I thought I told you not to fight anyone once you got into town. Yet here you are fighting one of the worst possible opponents. Look at your state."

Tachan looks at me with disappointed eyes while still not letting go out of either of us

"H-hey! That wasn't my fault, this shithead's friends followed after me and started attacking first!"

He turns his eyes to the armored boy and aura seeps from his body

"Is that so...?"

Tachan grip tightens on his shoulder

"Why were you doing this, Mr. Lucifer? Or would you rather I call you Mr. Hakuryuukou?"

W-Wait, he knows about this too? S-so the Tenryuu thing is real?!

"In fact, why are you even in Rias Gremory's territory?"

Rias Gremory again? Who the hell is this girl?!

Uhhh! So many unanswered questions! And my body is getting tense being held like this!

"Tachan, do you think you could let me go?"

I say rolling my eyes as to point out my annoyance

"Hah, right, sorry"

I feel my movements return as I'm finally able to put my arms down and walk again

And to my surprise, Tachan also released the armoured boy!

"T-Tachan, don't! This guy is dangerous!"

I lift my blades up, but Tachan brushes it off

"Don't worry Ayumu, I know about this guy."

"You wha- ugh!"

I'm interrupted as a feeling of soreness rushes through my body and I stumble

"S-shit"

With my power on it's last legs, of course this is happening.

"Ayumu!"

Tachan rushes to me and supports me by the shoulder

"Thanks, I exhausted all I had fighting this guy"

I say with a bitter smirk, but Tachan replies with a weird expression

"Don't worry, I'll give you some of mine but... err..."

He mumbles through his words, his face becoming red

"What is it?"

I ask confused and he rubs the back of his head

"I-I've been meaning to ask, but... w-what's with the get-up?"

My self-consciousness kicking again, I cover my body and reply with my face beet red

"K-Kusuke did it..."

I reply with these three words only, if it's Tachan, then he'll surely understand

"I-I see... that guy, huh?"

I nod embarassed as he finishes patching me up and I can walk normally again

"Are you better?"

"Yes, thanks"

Tachan gives me a smile at my positive answer, I touch the jewel and return to my normal clothing

"It's good to see you again, Ayumu"

He says looking at me and I feel my face redden even more

"Y-yes, y-you too..."

Watching us, the boy seems to have grow impatient as he speaks

"Hey, are you two going to keep flirting or are you going to fight?"

I blush harder and stare at him

"W-We are not! Huh?"

As I'm about to yell at the white haired boy, Tachan let's go off my shoulder and whispers something in my ear

Once he finishes, confusion strikes me as Tachan asks me seriously

"...Do you understand?"

I can't understand exactly what he meant by it, but the seriouness in his eyes compells me to nod

"Y-yes"

"Thank you"

Tachan says before turning towards the boy, who gleefully exclamates

"Finally! So... are you an esper too? Some kind of healer?"

Tachan scratched his cheek

"Well... almost, but does that really matter?"

His eyes turn serious again as his aura is completely directed at the boy

"Ho? So you won't give me your name and will attack me either way? You espers are surely starting to look a lot like each other"

Tachan shakes his head with an awkward smile

"Haha, I know this might seem like we have a beef wiht you, but an opportunity like this... I need to take advantage of it"

He then lifts a finger

"As for my name, I wouldn't mind giving it you, however..."

"However?"

The boy urges him to continue and Tachan points down

"I want you to bow down and apologize to Ayumu"

...

...

What?!

I speak surprised, the boy with white air also responds astonished

"W-what? What did you said?"

Tachan nods his head and repeats as if it was the most natural thing in the world

"Exactly what you heard, I want you to bow down and say you are sorry. If you want me to so courteous as to give my name before a battle, then I want to hear exactly the words 'I am sorry' coming from your mouth. So c'mon, remove this helmet and do it"

He keeps pointing down as if saying 'hurry up and do it'

"H-hey, Tachan, i-it's really not necessary, I'm fine now and as long as you are here-"

Tachan shakes his head and replies looking straight at the boy

"Sorry Ayumu, no can do, trust me. I've heard a lot about this guy and although I made a deal not to go after him, I just can't help if he's right in front of me after hurting my friend"

His eyes are glowing with a murderous intent, is this guy really that bad? I know he's powerful, but Tachan wouldn't go 100% for a single fight where I'm not even that badly injured, would he? What in the world could this boy have done to deserve this?

"I heard about you, Vali Lucifer, you are a battle maniac, right? Once you find a strong opponent you can't help yourself, right?"

Tachan gives a sarcastic grim and continues

"I am much like that too, once I go 100 I can't stop untill I let it out... The beating will be free of charge, but if you wanna know my name, you better apologize first"

The white haired boy also smiles

"Oh, is that so?"

I shiver, not only in fear of the sudden developments or the overwhelming aura both are releasing, but also from the freezing cold created by the ice that's surrounding us.

I look around and confirm that indeed, Tachan is here alone, so how in the world...

"T-Tachan, when did you learn cryokinesis?"

This ability is very similar to Mirabel sensei's... but Tachan shouldn't be able to use this

"This is not cryokinesis, sorry Ayumu, I know there are a lot of things that I owe you an explanation for, but I don't think right now is the time"

He gives this answer, closing his hand while an energy sphere forms in his hand

"Am I right, Mr. Lucifer?"

The boy in the armour sneers, his aura also increasing

"If you know me like you say you do and still think that I'm going to bow and apologize, then you must be crazier than you look."

Tachan sighs at his answer and says

"Oh well... if you are not bowing yourself..."

"Ugh!"

The boy groams in surprise as his body is forced onto it's knees

Tatseyo stares down with contempt in his eyes as he approaches him

"Then I am making you do it"

The boy tries, with a lot of difficulty, to raise his head up to look at Tachan

"Y-you!"

His armour shines and his wings are fixed as I hear the sound of his dreaded ability

[Divide!]

In the same moment, the boy tries to stand up again, only to notice that he still can barely move

Now, instead of anger, his voice carries much more a feeling of cheerfulness

"Hah, so this is telekinesis... real telekinesis, what a frightening ability. It carries so much power that even after dividing it once I can barely lift myself up"

Tachan replies nonchalantly

"I'm also surprised, I honestly thought you would be more powerful, maybe I'm just too strong... as if! C'mon, stop playing around and show me your true power"

He taunts him and my eyes wide, this will seriously turn into an all out?

The boy gives a quick laugh

"As if I had a choice, but remember, you asked for it!"

[Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!]

After several more divides, the pressure around the boy is released and he can stand up again

However, Tachan immediately pushes him against a wall!

CRAM

I hear the boy's armour breaking and Tachan lifts his hand, the pressure on the boy becomes so great that he actually breaks the wall and goes flying to the other side of it.

"Interesting... so that's how I do against the Hakuryuukou Lucifer"

Tachan says rubbing his chin, as if he had just made an experiment

"Sorry Ayumu, but I'll keep this battle going, there's things I need to know"

He says creating a multicolored sphere of energy which is divided into several different ones that go floating around him

I stare at Tachan still confused at his every word, he looks at my face and sighs

"I'm sorry, I'll explain everything once I'm done, I promise you"

I gulp down and nod

"Alright then, but you better have a damn good explanation for all of this!"

He smirks and gives a quick chuckle

"If you only knew..."

[Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divideeeeeeeee!]

Meanwhile, the boy keeps halving away the power around his body untill the grip is released and he lands on his feet

"Hahaha, I'm truly fortunate! To meet two strong opponents in the same day!"

He says as his armour is rebuilt once again and the energy is being released through those pristine blue wings

"Hey, Tachan, be careful, if he touches you he will-"

Tachan nods

"Don't worry, I know about his ability"

He states poiting to the boy

" [Divine Dividing] or 'The Light Wings of the Hakuryuukou', it's an ability that can halve the power or even the size of something almost indefinitely."

I stare wide eyed again

"Y-you knew him already?"

Tachan never mentioned this guy to me before, what's going on?

To my surprise, his answer is a 'no'

"Not actually... like I said, it's complicated.

He says and the spheres start to move swirming around

"I must say that I'm impressed Ayumu, this guy is on a level of his own and you were able to hold your own against him. But now I think it's time for me to compare my strength with the host of Albion"

He says and the boy laughs

"Ha! How interesting, so you've done your research and still wish to fight me? Very well then, Albion, you heard him, right?"

[...]

[...]

Ora, what happened? The thing inside of him always seemed so chatty and now it's refusing to speak?

Just as I was thinking that, it replied

[Be careful Vali, this boy... he's different, he's on a level of his own as well]

For a moment, the boy turns silent, as if he's considering what the voice said. Instead of replying anything, he takes a step forward and sprouts his wings upwards

"I see... if the Tenryuu himself acknowledged you, then I can't look down on whoever you are"

He says as the aura on his body begins to increase

"Let's settle this right here!"

Just as he says that a huge number of magic circles appears behind him and on the sky as magic attacks along with hundreds of demonic bullets are shot towards Tachan

"Damnit!"

I yell as I think about fighting, but Tachan lifts a hand signing me to stop

"It's alright"

The spheres start to move, separating into even more of them to shield us from the attacks. The energy from the boy's offensive is being pulled inside of them as if they had a telekinetic force of their own

"Woah..."

I can merely say impressed by what I am seeing, even after fighting me he still has enough demonic power to do this

Not just only that, but Tachan is amazing too! Obviously, even if we are both high rankers, there's still a difference between our ranks for a reason.

After the shower of attacks ends, the spheres were almost at the size of softballs from the absorbed energy

"As expected of a descendat of Lucifer, what an impressive amount of demonic energy, even a High class devil can't compare"

Tachan acknowledges with a serious face as the spheres return to him

"Tsk, seems like Albion wasn't exaggerating either, you really are something"

The boy says removing his helmet and glaring at Tachan

"I'm actually delighted that the Hakuryuukou himself thought so highly of me. But I'm not using all of my power with just this, you know?"

He frowns at Tachan's answer

"Is that so? But what makes you think I used everything I have either?!"

Several magic circles are created and the boy equips his helmet as he charges towards Tachan while sending several magical attacks

"Bad decision"

Tachan flicks a finger and the boy's armour is destroyed as he's sent flying backwards! So easily!

The magical attacks are also absorbed by the spheres as Tachan makes them change direction

I gulp down seeing the two of them fighting so seriously as I stare at Tachan and notice something

His aura is stronger than normal.

He's in his 100% state, that's for sure, in this state he's outrageoulsy powerful, much more than I could ever be. But I can tell it's stronger than before.

Tachan told me that he becomes stronger naturally as time passes and he gets more used with his powers, but it can happen this fast? Also, this orb technique, is it something new that he learned when he was here? Or was it somewhere selse?

"Are you done already?"

Tachan says rubbing his eyes as if he's sleepy

The boy lifts himself and glares daggers at Tachan before restoring his armour

"Don't get cocky just because you landed some hits, Albion! Get ready!"

[Understood! But remember Vali, this will drain a lot of your power]

The voice replies as the white aura around the boy starts to shine

"I don't mind! Opponents like him are worthy of seeing my technique!"

From the aura, a distoreted field comes out, surrounding the boy

Tachan wides his eyes and after a moment of surprise he smirks

"I see, so this is [Half Dimension], the ability that can halve anything within it's field"

Tachan again shows his surprising knowledge about the boy's abilities

"So you know about this as well, I take it you are prepared?"

A scary smile appears on Tachan's face as he clicks his fingers and the spheres that absorbed the boy's attacks merge untill there's only 6 hoovering around

"I guess you could say I am"

I can hear the boy laughing from his helmet

"Hahaha! You are a very interesting human indeed! Let's see if you'll make due to your promise!"

The boy disappears in a flash, I can barely follow him with my eyes as he dashes towards Tachan, who raises a hand to make boy halt in the air

[Half Dimension!]

The dividing is nearly instantaneous this time and Tachan just narrowly holds the boy down for moment! The halving speed inside that field is incredibly fast!

"Not going to work anymore!"

The boy says as he creates more demonic energy attacks, those however, seem to only be a distraction for a real physical blow as a seal is created in the boy's hand and he punches at full force!

"I've learned my lesson! If magic won't work, then I'll beat you to a pulp head on!"

BLAAAAM

But as expected, Tachan notices this and dodges the boy's attack, the force of his aura colliding with the boy's fist creates a shockwave that sends stones flying.

Tachan strides backwards and states while looking at the boy with eyes filled with amazement

"So even this much telekinetic power won't work well against [Half Dimension]... you are a powerful opponent indeed"

The boy seems confused and asks

"Hey, why didn't you counter-attack? Are you seriously limiting yourself on a fight against me?"

Tachan shakes his head and says

"Believe me, I am using my full power here, but you wouldn't understand that this is also a test for my skills. I already made a promise to Rias Gremory and the Seikiryuutei, even if it's proven that I can defeat you. I don't have the intention to kill you"

I can feel the coldness from Tachan's words, as much as I don't understand what he's talking about, it seems that indeed this fight is also a way to test himself. But why is he trying to measure strength? What could he gain?

However, on the other side, anger cold be felt oozing from the boy as he speaks in a dead tone

"... Are you fucking with me? Experiment... are you trying to say something with this?"

Suddenly, all the jewels in the boy's armour start to glow alternating

"Don't you dare take me lightly!"

The boy vanishes from sight and when I come to sense, he's already in front of Tachan. With a fist filled with aura, he attempts to strike at Tachan, who easily dodges

KAAM

However, the attack proves to be a feint as a magical circle is created right between then!

"Manipulate this!"

The circle hits Tachan who counters the attack with his own aura, the attacks envelop each other, causing an explosion that sends both him and the boy backwards!

"Tachan!"

Yelling out, I create a fireball within my left hand. I wanna join the fight, I can't stand seeing Tachan fighting while standing idle, but I'm not in full force right now, I'll just get in his way if I try...

Bitting my lip and swallowing nervously, I watch the fight continue

Tachan comes back walking normally with a few wounds and his clothes torn

"As expected of the Maou's descendant, you quickly found a way to get back at me"

He speaks nonchalantly as he restores himself and his wardrobe

The boy glares with anger as his armour was also broken in the clash of their attacks

"Don't underestime the Hakuryuukou Lucifer!"

He says proudly creating a shower of magical attacks that are sent to the direction where Tachan is, but the attacks shift target midair and are once again absorbed by the several massive energy orbs flying in the air

"Tsk... you are really annoying with this power"

Tachan shakes his head

"You are very powerful too, I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was taking you lightly, I assure I know enough about you that I have taken the right precautions before coming."

The 6 spheres that were floating, now start swirling around as Tachan smiles with some proud and says

"Including this technique"

He snaps his fingers and the orbs begin dividing themselves, the massive spheres begin splitting, multiplying several fold with no signs of stopping

"Wow..."

I say in a daze as everything around us becomes surrounded by these small rounds of aura in no time, how many thousands are there?

"I created this with your [Half Dimension] in mind, at first I was impressed that a Tenryuu was sealed within you, but it seems that even a legendary gear has it's weakness, so I'm trying to see if I can exploit that"

At Tachan's words, the boy seems increasingly intrigued

"You are full of tricks, huh? Opponents like you are a real pain, but I like it! Let's see if your tactics will work against the power of the Hakuryuukou!"

He says while creating lots of seals with different symbols

"Very well, it's time to see if all that effort paid off!"

The incredible ammount of energy bullets that was all around came down on the boy with a speed that made them almost impossible to follow, leaving their colored trails behind

"Don't think I won't fight back!"

From the several magic seals created by the boy, hundres of attacks from different were shot, it seems he aimed to destroy them by using his magic even though he was overwhemed numerally as Tachan can send attacks from anywhere he wants

"I'll crush your bullets!"

The boy says with confidence as his attacks from many different magical attributes clash with Tachan's aura strikes, however, what I expected to be a violent collision of attacks, turned into another absurd display of power

All of the magical attacks were absorbed completely by Tachan's bullets! Not only that, but they grew in size too! The boy's magical attacks were turned against him!

"W-what!"

He barely had time to cry out as the deadly colorful fest blasted down on him, the field that he summoned began to immediately halve the attacks to the point were they were barely scratching his armour, but the boy still didn't seemed happy about this at all

"You can absorb even different magical attacks so easily... you really are one hell of a monster"

He says impressed, I also stare wide eyed at Tachan. It's my first time seeing magic from this level, but he can absorb and manipulate them so easily. As expected of him.

Tachan is amazing, compared to him I am...

"It seems the only thing that can take you down are my fists then!"

The boy says clutching his fists and charging forward, Tachan leaps in the air and dodges his attack

"Oh, please don't praise me yet, like I said, this attack was to counter [Half Dimension]"

Tachan snaps his fingers once again while in the air, and the hundreds of small orbs that were still all around change their shape untill they literally resemble bullets

"Do not praise untill I have show you it's true power!"

The bullets come to shower the boy once again, this time he does not attempt to counter them with magic or demonic power, it seems that he learned this will only fuel them. He relies completely on the field surrounding him, that overwhelming ability that can halve any matter or energy that becomes a target

And once again, just as they enter, the bullets begin to reduce untill they almost disappear, making the boy laugh

"Hahahaha! How is this supposed to be any different?"

Tachan smiles and mutters a single word that sends shivers down my spine

"Now"

As soon as this word leaves his lips, the bullets invading the boy's field increase in size drastically! The nearly omni directional attack from the bullets is in such number and power that it starts destroying his armour!

"UGHAAA! What in the world is this?!"

First it's the back, then the shoulders, chunks of flesh fall from the boy's body into the ground but the a field still seems to be holding up, Tachan keeps the pressure up, I see him extend his hands and form more and more bullets all which recover their energy right after they are halved by the boy's dimension.

As the non-ending stream of attacks continues, the top of the helmet breaks, the chestplate, the knees, the arms, one by one the boy's field seems to be nearing it's limit as his groams grow louder and his wounds deeper

"UHAAAAAAAAA!"

I hear him scream and create what it seems to be several seals around himself as Tachan's bullet hell envelops him untill it's impossible to see the boy anymore

When the merciless firing ends and all the smoke that was risen by it disipates, a huge crater appears on the ground with the boy's battered body laying on it

"So you still managed to create a layer of defensive seals before the attacks got the worst of you, I said it once and I'll say it again: As expected of the Hakuryuukou Lucifer"

Tachan gets down from the air into firm ground

"When I heard you had the ability to halve and disipate energy from your wings I was very interested, I thought it was going to be very difficult to take down someone like you. Untill Liliana just told me something so simple that I almost laughed at myself for not realizing it"

He casually walks towards the boy who bravely picks himself up, blood dripping from all over his body

"She said 'Think about your own limitations'. Ha! Impressive, right?"

Here he goes again, who the hell is Liliana? Wait, does she knows about Tachan's powers? Another esper in this town?

A... girl?!

The boy stands up, his breathing ragged, but his spirit still unavering

"What... limitation?"

Tachan nods at the boy's question and answers

"The ammount of energy I can manipulate and absorb, albeit great, is limited... and so is yours."

He points at the boy's wings and says

"I could try and keep breaking your wings to prevent you from releasing excess energy, but your halving field could stop my telekinesis before I did that, that's why the test."

I quiver for a moment, he knew that? That's why tested his telekinesis on the boy's field? To see if he could use his telekinesis to break his wings even with the field on?

"I see, heh, you really are full of tricks"

The boy says and Tachan acknowledges

"Well, to defeat the Hakuryuukou who also has the power of Lucifer, I had to have something more than just strength. That's when I came up with this technique"

Tachan creates another ball of aura in his hands and sends it floating into the air

"Absorb my opponents attacks to use their energy against them before it even reached me and finally..."

The orb takes the shape again of a projectile, the same used to beat the boy to his current state.

"Use my energy tranfer ability to increase them to the point where Half Dimension can't keep up"

A confused expression appears on the boy's face

"Wait, so this 'experiment' of yours was-"

"A wager."

Tachan says simply put and I feel myself tremble once again

"A w-wager?"

I am the one to ask this time, making Tachan nod and turn his head to me and then back to the boy

"In the end it would come down to create enough bullets with and tranfer enough energy to keep up with the effects of Half Dimension"

The boy smirks

"I thought you said you wouldn't need strength"

"I said just strength wouldn't be enough, I never once believed I could defeat you in this state while holding back. Good thing you piss me off so much"

The boy's armour slowly rebuilds itself and a bold smile appears on his face as Tachan nods

"However, there's still one thing I want to find out"

Tachan keeps walking towards the boy

"Uhm, what would that be I wonder?"

Curling the armored hands into a fist the boy gets ready to attack, Tachan however, stays idly, without any signs of fighting. Instead he simply points to his face and says

"Your [Divide]... use it on me"

...

What?!

Not only me, but the boy also becomes reactionless at Tachan's absurd request

"Y-you are offering yourself to get hit directly by me just so you can experience my [Divide]?"

Tachan nods and gives an awkward smile

"I know, sounds insane, right? But I am the type that never did much training in my life, I'm used to grow stronger by fighting directly and adapting as I go along, even if I make use of my powers in new ways during training, I won't be confident if I don't get to use them in the battlefield."

W-wait, training? Did Tachan just said he trained?!

"Pffft, hahahahahaha!"

His words draw out an outburst of laughter from the boy, making Tachan back away in surprise

"You are probably one of the most interesting opponents I've fought so far, but I get where you are coming from! Training and fighting are very different things, so if that's what you are wishing for then I'll gladly show the power of [Divide] directly!"

The boy clutches his hands into fist as aura pours into it and he rams his fist down at Tachan, who makes no signs of blocking or dodging

"Clench those teeth!"

Tachan merely shifts his head to the side and the boy's fist connects with his face

I close my eyes, unable force myself to see what's about to follow

DOOOON

A loud noise reverbs and a feel a strong gust of wind blowing against me, when I open my eyes again, the boy has a fist forward and a long curtain of smoke has formed in front of him

When that smoke disipates, what appears is... Tachan holding the boy's fist just barely before it got to hit his face!

"I said I would let you hit me, I never said where. The palm of my hand is enough, right?"

I barely have time to breath in relieve before the boy laughs again

"Hahaha, indeed! I gotta say you almost had me believe you were going to receive a full on attack, but that's enough, here is what you wanted!"

[Divide!]

The voice resounds and I see Tachan's aura being reduced

"Ah, so this is the legendary ability of the Hakuryuukou Albion, I can legitimaly feel the energy being drained from my body, so... let's begin then."

Tachan states and in the blink of an eye, several smoke like lines start gathering around him, as energy from all around starts to be absorbed

"You can absorb energy even from the enviroment itself... heh, you keep surprising me, honestly"

Tachan also shows a smile

"Many cannot even see the flow of the energy when I absorb it, but I think I shouldn't be surprised since it's you. But I think you failed to notice something"

He says pointing behind the boy, who quickly glances behind and I hear a quiver in his voice

"Even the surplus energy that is expelled from your wings, once it's out I can easily take it back"

With a smirk on his face Tachan says

"Try to keep as much as you can in yourself, or you won't be able to make most of it"

Despite this, the boy seems even more excited

"Hahahaha! I wouldn't have it any other way! To fight an opponent that has prepared specifically to fight you, it would be a shame if it was too easy!"

The boy's aura increases, covering his entire body as the voice ressounds again

[DivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivide!]

He keeps taking away energy as Tachan keeps absorbing it

"My energy manipulation against your dividing, let's see who is stronger!"

Tachan creates more energy bullets and shoots them towards the boy, who focuses all his magic in defense to withstand the attacks since dividing them will be useless as Tachan keeps increasing their power everytime he tries to halve them.

He uses his own fists to fight the non-ending shower of attacks that sends towards him, chunks of his armour break and wounds start to appear on him and blood spills on the ground

As Tachan's telekinesis cannot hold the boy down for more than a moment, he's unable to effectivelly trap him, but the boy is still unable to lay a finger on Tachan, who dodges and blocks every single attack

"Where did he learn to fight like this...?"

This fighting style is definitely not what Tachan does, he never trained any martial art in his entire life, I've alway seem him fight and it's always little more than punches and kicks with an enormous power behind them thanks to his psychic abilities, but this time is diferent

Tachan dodges with the movements of a boxer, whenever he strikes back with his hands it's always with minimal movement

But eventually, I notice that the boy begins to tire out, his armour regenerating slower and his breathing starting to rag.

"Shit..."

[Vali, you should retreat for now, this boy is not an opponent you can defeat like this]

"You should hear what he's saying Mr Lucifer, I already got what I wanted, there's no need to keep this meaningless fight going"

Tachan says this, but I notice for an instant that his body trembled, his posture relaxed before he tensed up again. Is he exhausting himself? But that's impossible!

In his normal state Tachan can keep fighting for days without rest by absorbing energy, it's only the stress caused by using more than his base form that can cause this.

Is this because he's pushing himself? So I am right, is using more than normal!

"Shut up, I'm not done yet!"

The boy says as he charges again with reckless abandon for himself, Tachan erects a wall between them from which several bolts of energy come flying towards the boy.

"My fists are stronger than your bullets!"

He says and destroys the attacks with his hands covered in aura, but just before he hits then

!

A bright flash occurs, forcing me to look away for a moment, before looking again at the scene

When I can finally look at it again, Tachan is standing right behind the boy, his hand buried inside his helmet.

"You fell for it..."

The helmet cracks, revealing a shocked and frozen expression on the boy's face as he falls to one knee

Despite Tachan's words, the damage does not seem to have been major at all, there's a little blood coming from where he hit, but aside from that it doesn't seem to be that bad

"Ah, *huff*, just that? You broke my helmet just to *huff* give me a little blow to the head?"

The boy says with ragged breath, to which Tachan shakes his head with a serious expression

"No, with the strike I just made... the fight has ended. There's no meaning to it anymore"

Tachan turns his back to him and starts to walk towards me rubbing his shoulder

"Ahh, I'm beat! Hey Ayumu, let's go home. I'll explain everything to you there."

He says to me with an awkward smile

"O-okay..."

I look behind him as the boy tries to stand up with anger in his eyes

"Y-you asshole, don't ignore me!"

The boy's wings burst into fullpower and he dashes towards Tachan who has his back turned to him

"Tachan, watch out!"

I create a flame within my hands to attack the boy, however he was already too close and landed a punch straight at Tachan's direction!

"No!"

I yell out and shoot out my flames at desperation, however, someone stood in the way of flames

It takes a moment for my brain to understand what had just happened

"T-Tachan?"

He blocked my flames with his arm to protect the boy... who had completely missed his punch!

"W-what is this?"

The boy steps backwards in surprise, the punch he was aiming at Tachan passed close to the left of his head, missing the target by a long shot

Tachan turns around to look at the boy

"The 'little blow to the head' I gave you wasn't actually a blow to the head, it was just a feint to reach my real target."

Tachan makes his hand into the shape of a gun and aims right at his ear

"You inner ear"

I feel my eyes wide as Tachan reveals this and puts his hands into his pockets

"What... the hell?"

The boy takes several steps towards Tachan, but the moment he reaches him, Tachan merely steps to the side and he falls on the ground by himself

"In order to deliver a decisive blow on you I had to make sure to weaken your armour and your body, but that wouldn't be enough, with your dividing ability you could reduce the damage of the trauma I gave you. That's why I had to disctract you with that show of lights and then hit you with another feint by making you believe I was aiming for your head"

Tachan tilts his neck and says

"You could say it was a feint inside of a feint, hahaha..."

However, the boy does not seem amused at all and prepares a burst of demonic strikes

"Shut up!"

Several bullets fly towards us, but Tachan makes the few that were actually accurate change direction

"It's useless now, you have lost your balance, you can't fight like this. Just accept this... or..."

Tachan gazes with an enormous animosity at the boy

"No... I don't think you would even be able to do that by now"

He taps into my shoulder and says

"I gotta a lot to tell you Ayumu, but by now we sh-"

"Do what? You mean the... Juggernaut Drive?"

The boy's voice cuts him short and Tachan turns to him, however, this time he seems increasingly nervous

"Yes, that's what I was talking about. But don't tell me... you really are going take this to the last consequences?"

Cold beads of sweat start to gather at Tachan's face as he says that, however, he also gives an excited smile

"You told me you did your research about me, didn't you? Well, it's like you said..."

The boy tries to stand back up and wobles trying to approach us

"For me, every fight is a serious fight. You should know going back now would be a disgrace to me..."

Hearing the boy say this, Tachan gulps down nervously and says

"I see, so it's come to this..."

[Vali, control yourself, you cannot use that in here! This is just a makeshift barrier created by Le Fay, if both your powers collied, it's going to collapse!]

The boy grows visibly angered and shouts

"I won't lose to an overconfident human! I refuse to accept defeat without answering with my full power! This is my determination! Are you telling me I should just give up and accept defeat?! A Heavenly Dragon of all creatures is telling me to surrender?"

[...]

At the boy's exclamations the voice grows silent and ponders for a moment before answering

[I understand, if that's your determination Vali, then me as your partner will support you. Just don't blame me for any damage you might cause to the Crimson Princes's town]

Tachan clutches his fist and his dangerous smile turns into a grim

I don't know what's going on, but this might be bad.

"Tachan, isn't it better if we go-"

He promptly denies my suggestion before I can finish

"No, this is also an opportunity I've been waiting for, my final techinique..."

He says staring at the boy and clutching his hands

Ah, this is bad after all. When Tachan explodes he can't control his emotions and goes berserk sometimes, even if it's totally unnecessary

With a painful expression, the boy answers

"At this point it's meaningless, as long as we don't kill anyone it'll be fine. So let's just release it already!"

When he says this, the boy's aura starts to become surrounded by a dark, putrid layer. The looks of which I can recognize quite well

"A curse!"

I exclamate

[I who am about to awaken, am the Heavenly Dragon who has taken the principles of domination from God-]

The boy starts to chant and Tachan's eyes wide as he puts his arm in front of me

"Ayumu, now!"

I acknowledge his words and create a wall of fire around all three of us

"I will not allow you to use any curse in this town!"

Tachan flies at an immense speed towards the boy and wrestles him down with his telekinesis

"W-what the hell are you doing?!"

The boy shouts and Tachan lifts him up by the hair

"You're not leaving my sight!"

An enormous pressure is created between the two I can see both struggling with their own energies as a battle that has no physical atacks happens right in front of me

SLASH

Just as it seemed things couldn't get worse, a tear in space opened

From inside of it I could see two shadows emerge and step out

"F-fuck, what are you doing here?!"

The white haired boy shouts violently while not even baiting an eye to the new guests who just arrived at one of the worst possible moments

One is a handsome youth wearing a business suit, glasses and brandishing a sword on his hip, the other is a weird looking guy wearing chinese armour and holding a staff.

"Vali, you were taking too long to came back, what's the meaning of this?"

The youth with the sword calls him out, much to the boy's displease

"Stay out of this! I'm going all out against this guy!

Both of them seemed very nervous, the chinese boy shouted

"H-hey, Vali! Don't fuck around with us, you can't use JD in here!"

"Shut up! Get away if you don't wanna get caught in the crossfire!"

He warns them before talking to the Hakuryuukou

"Albion, let's keep the chant!"

The boy calls angrily and the voice answers

[Yes!]

"H-Hey, what the fuck should we do, Arthur?"

At his partner's question, the boy with glasses has a nervous expression and stares at his white haired friend who stares at his friend who does not stop chanting

[I envy the infinite and pursue the dream]

"It can't be helped, if Vali is this hellbent on fighting, there's nothing we can do. Let's leave."

I look at them with disbelieve, are you just going to leave your friend here?!

"T-Tachan..."

I take a step forward, I want to meddle in, I want to attack this boy, I WANNA DO SOMETHING!

[I shall become the White Dragon of Supremacy!]

"Hey, girl, if you know what's good for you, you'll run away too."

The glasses boy says and his friend points at me

"W-wait a minute! Isn't she the redhead that casted a seal on Kuroka? Is it okay to leave her here?"

"There's no time for that! Let's go!"

But I grip my fists, hard, hard enough for it to hurt and force myself to remember what Tachan whispered to me

(If he starts chanting, I'll grab him. No matter what happens, you can't interfere, keep anyone from getting in and in case I fail... run away. As long as I'm in my 100% it'll be fine, just run to safety)

I am trying to follow the first intructions, but if anything happens... I'm sorry Tachan, but I don't think I'll be able to do run away and leave you here

I can see Tachan clearly struggling to keep the boy down

"Guh!"

He grits his teeth and something dark comes out of his mouth, is it blood?! He's trying that hard to hold the boy back?

[And I shall take you to the limits of White Paradise!]

When the boy finishes to say this a dazzling light leaves his body and starts to fade

"Juggernaut Drive!"

He screams from the top of his lungs

"S-so that's it... I failed, I didn't had enough power, I couldn't supress it"

Tachan says while letting his arms go out of the boy

The looks on the faces of the boy's partners quickly grow to despair as they shout at me

"Girl, you better run away now!"

I shake my head profusely

"Of course I can't!"

I shout as I watch the boy transforming in front of me

I'll help, Tachan, even if it costs my life!

I will-

 ** _DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM_**

"W-what is this?"

But before my hesitant legs can move, a huge, dark and evil and overwhelming aura spreads all over the field

But it's not the boy's aura

It's... Tachan?!

"H-hey, what happened to your friend?"

The chinese boy asks with sweat all over his face and when I stop to look at my own hands, I notice I'm also trembling

Tachan's colorful aura, the trademark of the Kageyama family's seriousness, becomes pitch black and a terrible feeling emanates from him

"I... I don't know..."

 **Afterword:** I really didn't intend to take this long to post the chapter, but I kept having ideas and I also wanted to play with Vali's emotions in this chapter and the next ones, how this fight will affect him and his team, I want to make the espers an existence that will truly shake things up in the DxD world and I want this to be transparent in the characters who interact with them. Now onto answering some questions.

 **Assassin's Creed and the name of one of Tatseyo's friends being Eizo:** I believe that you thought this was a reference to the protagonist Ezio Auditore, right? Well, no, that has nothing to do with it, for Tatsetyo's normal human friends I searched for random japanese names that didn't had any character related to them, I even searched on Google to make sure no one would get confused. Kanae is a problem now because there is a Kimetsu no Yaiba character named that too, but they have nothing to do with each other. Even if I wanted to use Assassin's Creed in this story I wouldn't be able to do so, not because of any power gap (you can always cram some Sacred Gears or give them new powers), but because I never played the games or even read the book.

 **About "Esper aliens":** Star Wars jokes aside, that's actually possible. In OPM during the Boros invasion, there was an alien that claimed to be "The universe's strongest psychic" and telekinetic attacked Saitama before getting pulverized right away. So there it is, space espers are canon in OPM and I might work with this concept in the future. Also, DxD in the lates arcs has been working with the concepts of "Gods from another world", so it's not far fetched to include this in the story

 **About Kuriko's ability to breathe in space:** I don't know if it wasn't clear from the way I wrote in the respective chapters, but Kuriko and Kusuo can breath in space just fine without any air, they don't need any 'aerokinetic fields' to do so, that's why I didn't mention any in her chapter, but I wrote about the possibility of creating such fields in the chapter where Tatseyo is training with Mayumi because his abilities are still far from being as powerful as the Saiki's, so if he wants to breathe in an enviroment without air, he would have to create a zone like that, at least for now.

 **About Tatseyo's concept of "humanity":** That would fall in spoiler territory, so I won't go into that right now, but I like your point of view.


	44. Meeting the unknown

"So my technique didn't work... I couldn't suppress it..."

I say letting go of the Hakuryuukou's armor as he speaks the last bits of the chant

... No, that's wrong

It did work, I could feel myself suppressing the curse

I just wasn't strong enough

Even though I made all of those restrictions, even though I investigated so much... to hold back a curse strong like a Heavenly Dragon...

Am I still going to lose?

I feel myself losing strength, I fall down and everything becomes shrouded in darkness as my consciouness begins to feel hazy

 **{You know it's your fault, right?}**

Yeah, I know...

Hold up! What?

"W-who is it?"

From the darkness surrounding me, comes a voice

A familiar, yet weird voice, as if it's in reverb

 **{To fight an enemy you know it's strong while you still can't control your 100%, how stubborn and proud can you be?}**

I shake my head, still trying to keep my thoughts together and make sense of what's happening

"I know, in my 100 state I am-"

The voice immediately cuts me out

 **{That's right, you are still too weak! However... if you get hurt, I get hurt. So maybe I should awaken you... just a little. You are still not prepared to release it all yet}**

He (?) says in a mysterious tone

"W-wait a minute, who are you?!"

I say, desperate and scared as my head feels like it's been juggled around while I try to grasp what's happening, but the voice cares little to my words, replying amused

 **{It matters not for now, all you need to know is that I am power. And as you know, power has it's price. I'll collect my payment when time is due, but the exact time... kukuku, I'll make that a surprise}**

The voice states omeningly as it fades away

"Hold up! I still- AGHHHHHH!"

Forcefully ending the conversation, an overwhelming pain courses through my body, I try to kneel on the floor only to realize that there is no floor, only emptiness in here

I've been floating this entire time!? Where the hell am I?

After the painful jolt fades away, I'm left wandering in the dark, with my mind still all over the place.

Is this also it's doing? Or am I just tired?

I walk... or at least the closest thing to a walk you can do when there's no floor, or wall... or anything

This place gives me shivers, I feel like I could be consumed by the darkness at any moment if I slip for good

I wander, holding dearly into my sense of self untill I finally hear something

(Ta...!)

"Uh... w-what?"

I speak faintly, trying to listen to it

The voice echoes through the nothingness untill it becomes a familiar voice

(Tachan! Please, stop!)

I feel my eyes wide as the adrenaline pulls me from my near slumber

"A-Ayumu? Ayumu, where are you?!"

I desperatly turn my head, trying to find my friend, however, there's no sign of her

"Ayumu!"

Shouting, I increase my pacing, trying to find the source of my friend's voice and suddenly, a bright flash appears in front of me

"W-what the hell?"

A bright spot of light in the middle of all this darkness is created and stands idle as if invinting me towards it

"A-Ayumu?"

I speak to it, trying to get an answer

(Ta...chan!)

The sound is muffled and choped, but I can definitely recognize Ayumu's voice!

I immediately reach towards the light and as soon as I touch it, the brightness seems to suck me in, my confusion gradually disappears as I find myself back to where I was before passing out.

Inside the field created by one of Vali Lucifer's mates. However, the scenery this time is completely different...

Vali Lucifer is on the ground, on his knees right before me... covered in blood.

"H-how... is this even..."

I hear him say in disbelieve while staring at the ground

[The Juggernaut Drive was... suppressed?]

Even the legendary Albion seems completely shocked

"W-what did you said, Albion? The Juggernaut Drive?"

I hear a male voice and turn my head to see Arthur, Ayumu and the descendant of Sun Wukong standing there.

"No fucking way..."

The monkey boy says in awe

I stare again at Vali, covered in wounds and blood at my feet, it's true!

"I... I did this?"

Even I am at disbelieve at the sight

"H-How?"

I ask myself, but before I can ponder any further, an immense exhaustion takes me over and I stumble, trying miserably to stand up only to inevitably fall down

"Tachan!"

Ayumu's worried voice reaches my ears as she rushes over to grab me before I reach the ground

"Thank you... Ayumu. Ughhh!"

I barely have time to thank her before I start puking a black liquid out of my mouth

"Are you alright?!"

She asks desperately trying to wipe my mouth, I grab her hand with the little strength I have left, trying to stop her

"N-no, it's alright"

This thing is not blood, it's residue from suppressing the curse

"Fuck, h-how the hell did that guy do this? He's a fucking monster!"

Arthur and Bikou discuss

"That doesn't matter now, we gotta take Vali somewhere so he can heal"

With his sword, the elegant boy cuts a rift in space and starts dragging Vali in

"H-hey! Hold up over there!"

Ayumu exclamates trying to stop them from leaving, but I raise my hand

"I-it's okay... we can't stop them now"

Ayumu shakes her head fiercely, I see tears starting to form in her eyes

"It's not okay! We have to get you a healer!"

I shake my head

"N-no, we can't, the Association can't know about this."

Ayumu looks confused as I hand her a phone

"Call Liliana... just tell her I'm wounded."

"Li-Liliana?"

"Please, Ayumu, things will become clearer with this, trust me"

Ayumu stares for a moment before she starts to go through the phone

However, a voice calls our attention first

"Tatseyo-san! Tatseyo-san!"

Recognizing the voice immediately, I turn my head and see a small girl with green hair rushing towards us

"A-Aya-chan? What are you doing here, didn't I told you to go home?"

I ask, but before any answer can be given, she stops in a halt after Ayumu turns to her

"A youkai?!"

Ayumu creates a flame within her hand, making Aya-chan freeze in fear and my eyes wide in panick

"Stop, she's friendly!"

I shout, making Ayumu turn to me even more confused

"Friendly?"

She asks, the fire on her hand disappearing and Aya-chan continuing her run towards me

"I-I'm sorry, I just couldn't stay there while Tatseyo-san fought, so I followed you "

She kneels by my side right next to Ayumu, who looks at her puzzled

"I'm going to call Liliana-ane, she'll bring Galard-san with her, please hold in there!"

Aya-chan says standing up and activating a magic circle

I sigh in relieve

"Thank y- bluuurghhh!"

I puke once again and feel my consciousness starting to fade, once again, causing Ayumu to panic

"Tachan! Hold in there!"

I take her hand and say

"Please, Ayumu... no matter what happens, trust Liliana."

Before I pass out, I hear another familiar voice, but aside from relieve at her appearance, the despair in her voice makes me feel incredibly guilty

"Tatseyo!"

 **Afterword** : Glad you enjoyed the last chapter's fight and noticed Ayumu's increasing jealousy and all the techniques I'm referencing from other animes.

Though I would like to say that, as weird as it sounds, the orbs that Tatseyo uses are not actually based on Naruto's "Truth Seeking Orbs" as some stated.

Not that they aren't similar, but I have to admit that I stopped watching Naruto Shippuden before midway (yeah, I'm a heretic), so I didn't knew about their abilities untill now that I searched on the wiki. Tatseyo's orbs were actually based on Sirzechs ability to control his Power of Destruction, Dalk from Bleach and Cao Cao's Seven Treasures

 **About power level:** In this fic, many characters have their power levels unchanged, but some will have to be more "limited" as to draw a line in what they can or cannot do. In my humble opinion, Saitama can definitely stand up to GR and Ophis if it's just in strength, but Saiki is another story.

You see, Kusuo's power in his own anime is VERY inconsistent. He states to already be poweful enough to destroy the moon when he was a kid, he managed to brainwash the entire planet's population in an instant and teleport the entire section of an island from edge of the globe to the other, however, he struggled to stop a volcano whose firepower was only going to destroy Japan, which is a fairly small country that Sona herself stated that a Maou could destroy rather easily, he also had trouble to deal with the cat-cannon his brother built, which only had the destructive power to destroy a forest at it's max. Because of that, I think that even though Kusuo is very powerful with all the abilities he has, when it comes to firepower alone, I think he is "only" somewhat higher than Heavenly Dragon class, but not on the same level as Saitama or GR. I can argue that ?% Mob is actually stronger when it comes to raw strength, being at least Transcendental class. Regarding Garou, I believe he's at Heavenly Dragon class (when monsterfied, of course)

You can disagree with me in the comments of course, since these are all things that I see based on each of their feats, I could be forgetting or ignoring something.

 **About Ayumu's relation with "Kill La Kill" and "Fire Force"** : I absolutely love Kill La Kill and I'm glad you noticed Ayumu's battle gear is an indirect reference to it, I also watched the first season of Fire Force and I'm hyped for the next one (too bad it got delayed because of covid). I'm planning to base some of her future powers in this anime as she trains and grows.

 **About Jojo abilities** : I've been trying to be very careful with how much Tatseyo's abilities can interfere "internaly" with his enemies, gotta remember that the more powerful the enemy is, the less your powers can influence him, that's why Tatsumaki couldn't throw Saitama around and Tatseyo's telekinesis was stopped by [Half Dimension]. The idea of using his energy manipulation to make someone's senses berserk has gone through my mind and you reminded me of that, but Araki himself "forgot" this ability because it was too OP. If I make something like that with a character that can use long distance attacks, Tatseyo would basically one-shot enemies by making their senses go berserk and render then unable to aim correctly, because in the DxD verse, a single mistake is pretty much deadly depending on the level of the battle. If I'm going to use this ability, then I need to come up with some way that it has limitations in order to not become too OP that it can be used as an easy solution to everything.

And making "inorganic matter into organic and vice versa" is also possible, Mob was shown to be able to convert matter into energy in his fully released state. But if I'm going to do this, then it'll be much further, when Tatseyo has a better grasp of his powers and abilities.

 **About the Toaru series:** I'm still not done watching all the seasons and I might have to read the LN, but so far from what I've seen, if I use the Toaru verse here most of the characters will have to be seriously buffed. Misaka is one of the strongest characters and she almost lost a fight to a single mecha, the only ones I see winning a fight against DxD characters without receiving any new buffs are Accelerator and the Dark Matter guy.


	45. Sparks of Confusion

Tachan passes out in my arms after showing me one of the scariest sights I've ever seem from him and leaving even more doubts in my head

I turn my head towards the green haired youkai who is communicating with a magic circle

"Hey, you! What are you doing?!"

The girl seems incredibly nervous and doesn't seemed to have payed attention to what I said

"Hey! I said, what are y-"

Before I can finish my sentence, a glowing light appears in front of us

"W-what?"

I recognize it as being a teleportation spell, much like the one the magician girl used, but this one has a different seal on it.

"You are here!"

The girl says with excitement in her voice running towards the two figures that stepped out of the magic circle

One is a short old man wearing some sort of royalty clothing? And the other is...

Wow...

My eyes wide when I see her

An incredibly beautiful girl with brown skin and silver hair wearing a sleevless dress

The shock of such sight takes me off-guard for a moment, I wonder who they are untill I realize that both of them emanate the aura of a devil!

"Tatseyo!"

However, before I can react in any proper way, the dark skinned girl utters Tachan's name in shock as the little youkai rushes to her side

"Liliana-ane, Galard-san! I don't know what happened because I was left outside the barrier, but Tatseyo-san seems hurt!"

The green haired youkai says as the dark skinned beauty pats her head trying to comfort her

"Don't worry, it'll be fine, we are here now."

She then quickly turns her sight to me and Tachan again

"Galard, let's check up on Tatseyo"

"Okay!"

He answers simply and the trio rushes over, before such a sight, my reaction is immediate and I lift my hand, warning them to stop

"Hold it right there! Who are you?!"

But the three pay little attention to my advertence and, as if I was invisible, kneel right in front of me to look at Tachan's state

"For the Maou... what in the world happened? G-Galard, please take care of him"

She addresess the old man who promptly strikes the ground with his staff

"Right away!"

He releases his aura towards the wounded Tachan, soon enveloping him in it

"What are you two doing!?"

My suspicions kicking in, I try to pull Tachan away from the aura, but the dark skinned devil, acknowledging my presence for the first time, motions for me to stop

"Don't worry, we are on Tatseyo's side. I am Liliana, you must be Ayumu, has Tatseyo told you anything about me?"

I loosen my grip on Tachan and stare at the girl for a while

So it's like the girl said, this is her...

She's the one Tatseyo talked about in the fight... the one that came up with the attack to counter Half Dimension

She's so pretty... are Tachan and her close?

W-wait! That's not what I am supposed to be thinking now!

"Y-you know my name?"

She nods, a big and bright smile coming up on her face

"Yes! Tatseyo told me a lot about you"

"H-he did?"

I reply, a little embarassed.

Uhhhhh, I really wanna ask about what did he said about me, but it's not the time for that!

I supress my curiosity as best as I can to reply seriously

"But you are a devil... h-how..."

She giggles at my confusion

"Fufufu, you and him are really similar, no wonder you've been together for so long"

I feel my face get red at her answer, what did Tachan said to her?!

"W-we aren't like that!"

I reply in a panic, causing the girl to tilt her head slightly in a confused way

"Ara, aren't you two long time friends?"

Her question quickly makes me realize my misunderstanding and I feel my face get even redder

"Y-y-yes we are! I w-was just talking about... a-about..."

As I nervously try to fidget for an explanation, the girl begins to laugh

"Fufufufu, you two really are alike"

She says in a teasing voice, ugghhhh, what kind of relationship does she and Tachan have?

As my worries and questions pile up, the old man interrupts our conversation with a worried voice

"Liliana-sama, he has recovered from his wounds, but the exhaustion seems to have left him very debilitated. He's in serious need of recovery."

The girl's expression immediately turns serious as she nods to the old man and then looks at me

"Come with us, Ayumu, we have a lot to talk"

She helps me lift Tachan up and puts him into some sort of magical floating bed to keep his movements to a minimum

I look at Tachan's state and see that at least his physical state seems better

Healer?

It's only when this word comes to mind that the realization hits me

This old man... he's an esper too!

"Y-you are an esper... and a devil?"

How in the world is this even possible?!

The devil girl smiles

"We can explain it later... Oh, by the way, we haven't introduced ourselves properly yet, have we? I am Liliana Caim, this is my servant Henry Galard and this cutie here is Aya-chan"

The old man gives a formal bow and the youkai nervously follows along

"Very nice to meet you, Yatsushiro-dono"

"A-ah, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

The silver haired demoness then turns to me with an expecting smile

After a few moments of confusion, I realize what I have to do

"Ah, I'm... I am Ayumu Yatsushiro, nice to meet you too."

The girl gives another bright smile

"Nice to meet you, Ayumu-chan"

She cut the formality, right away! Also, why is she so pretty?! Ughhhh, Tachan, what is your relationship with her!?

"Oh... by the way, Tatseyo might have talked about me a while ago. Though he might have used a different name..."

"Uh?"

I reply confused as she says this and then turns to me flashing her tongue

"I'm Liliana Caim, aka: the Dark Devil. Fufufufu"

"W-what!?"

I ask, but the she quickly takes my hand into hers and pulls me towards a magic cirle

"Hey, h-hold up!"

I protest, but the light from the seal already began to envelop all five of us

Suddenly, all my surroundings turn bright and I can no longer see anything aside from the light

So this is magical teleportation? Now that I think about it this is my first time using it. I gotta admit it's much flashier than esper teleportation, but this also seems to take more time

When the light fades away I find myself in a huge room

"Woah..."

A gasp of surprise leaves my mouth as I take in the luxurious place decorated with a fancy carpet, paintings and even one of those big crystal chandeliers you see in movies hanging on the ceiling!

"Welcome to my HQ! Fufufu"

The girl playfully declares raising her arms

"This is your HQ?"

I ask surprised

"Well, a part of it"

I look at her in awe, of course this room isn't the end, but what more could there be? Also, where are we now? Is it still Kuoh?

"Liliana-sama!"

I hear a concerned voice from the back of the room and turn to see a beatiful yet traditional looking girl with long lustrious purple hair rushing towards us with concern stamped on her face

"What happened to Tatseyo?!"

She asks while putting her hand on his cheek. Hey! Aren't you too close!?

The dark skinned demon girl shakes her head and makes a bitter expression

"Aya-chan told me he faced the Hakuryuukou Lucifer, but forced himself too much in order to drive him away. His body is stable, but I don't know how his spiritual balance is"

The purple haired girl seems outright nervous seeing Tatseyo in this state, she seems to be close with him too...

"The Hakuryuukou? But he should have..."

It takes a while untill she notices my presence

"O-oh... I'm sorry, you must be Yatsushiro-san, correct? I am Mayumi Kanagawa."

She quickly regains composure and speaks in a soft spoken and kind tone while slightly bowing towards me

"Y-yes, that's me, nice to meet you"

Right after we introduce ourselves, the girl stands back again

"I'm sorry, but I have to get Manaki to examine him right away, excuse me!"

Just as she finishes saying those words, the girl vanishes instantly from our sight

I wide my eyes again, noticing what just happened, the scene with the old man flashing in my head.

"Sh-she's an esper too?!"

I say while turning towards the silver haired devil-girl, who nods and giggles

"Fufufu, yes, sorry. That was Mayumi, I apologize for her rush, but we can't waste any time treating Tatseyo"

"She's a... devil as well?"

I ask nervously, so there is more than one devil with esper abilities here.

"Yes, in fact you'll meet another one very soon."

I wide my eyes in confusion, well, it's true that psychic abilities are not exclusive to humans, but it's the first time I hear about devils having any. Uhhhh, this is just so weird!

"H-hey..."

I call the girl's attention

"What is it?"

She turns to me intriqued.

"T-Tachan told me to trust you... he said you would clarify things to me..."

The girl's eyes lighten up and the golden orbs seem to have gained a new light as her worried expression fades a little and she gives me a smile

"H-he did, huh?"

Oi oi oi! What's up with this reaction!? What kind of explanation am I going to receive here?!

Just as I'm about to ask further, the girl with purple hair returns and there's another person with her

A girl with red eyes and a steel cold expression, who doesn't seem fazzed even by the sight of Tatseyo's collapsed body

"Liliana-sama, Yatsushiro-san"

She greets both of us almost robotically and walks towards Tachan

"How long do you think it'll take to make a full recover?"

The glasses girl puts her hand over Tachan's chest and seems to be analyzing him for a moment before pulling it back and stating

"If we just leave him to rest it might take another 24 hours untill he's completely restored, we can help him with the ESP tech we have, but even then he probably won't wake up untill tomorrow."

To this, the silver haired demoness seems even more worried

"N-no... this is too long..."

She seems to be lost in thought for a moment before gripping her hand and saying under her breath

"It can't be helped then..."

She gives a serious look at her purple haired friend

"Mayumi... it seems that Tatseyo owns Yatsushiro-san an explanation about what's happening. Since you are the one who knew about his plan from the start could you please answer any questions she may have? Galard, Manaki, Aya-chan, you can go as well."

She states looking at her friends

"W-wait, Liliana-sama, what are you going to do?"

The old man asks and the dark skinned devil fidgets with her necklace before shooting a serious glance at him

"I'll help Tatseyo... personally"

I'm taken back by confusion at her words, but it seemed to have caused a jolt surprise among her followers. Even the girl with the robotic expression suddenly widdening her eyes

"Li-Liliana-sama, are you talking about..."

The girl nods her head determined and strokes Tachan's hair

"Yes..."

I look around and, aside from me, the only one who doesn't seem to understand what's going on is the green haired youkai girl, who desperately tries to follow the silver haired beauty as she starts taking Tachan to another room

"Wait, Liliana-ane! I wanna be with Tatseyo-san too!"

She grabs onto the devil girl's dress, but is gently told to go back

"I'm sorry, Aya-chan, this will be a bit of a personal thing to do, but I promise it's to help Tatseyo. Once he's fine I'll take him straight back to all of you, okay?"

The girl seems hesitant for a moment, but gulps down her saddness and replies

"O-okay... please take care of Tatseyo-san"

With this I was the only one left disatisfied with the situation

"H-hey, where are you taking Tachan?!"

With her golden eyes, she gives me a serious look and touches Tatseyo's forehead

"I'm sorry Ayumu-chan, but I have to do this by myself, just me and Tatseyo..."

The girl states this with a serious expression and I feel like my eyes will pop out of my skull after hearing this absurd response

"WHAAAT?! W-what the hell are going to do with Tachan in your bedroom?! You know he's passed out, right!?"

I yell loudly the last part, but to my surprise, no one around seemed astonished at this Liliana's bold statement or at my reaction. All I get from the silver haired devil is a shake of her head and a pleading look

"You still don't know Tatseyo has done for me... but I can't just let him knocked out for so long when I could be assisting his recovery... That's why, please trust me."

She gives me a serious look and I remember what Tachan said

(Please, trust Liliana)

I grip my fist tightly and bit my lip trying to swallow my aprehension, eventually noding my head

"AH damnit! Alright, but you better bring him back safe and sound! I won't forgive you if even a single hair on his head is out of place, okay!?"

Even though I tried to make it sound as intimidating as possible, the girl replies with a kind smile

"Thank you, Ayumu-chan"

I feel my face get red at her reply, don't act so buddy-buddy with me!

"Then I'll be leaving for now, please do try not to disturb me and make Ayumu-chan feel comfortable, okay?"

These words are promptly answered by her followers

"""Yes!"""

The devil girl takes Tachan with her and I keep watching her movements untill they are both outside of the room

"W-what is she going to do with Tachan?"

My question is met with worrisome looks from them

"I believe... that it's hard for even us to explain."

The girl with purple hair states, causing me to become even more confused. However, before I can make any more questions or even become angry at the lack of answers, the old man taps his cane on the floor, as in a sign to call our attention and opens a door to another room, inviting us over with a smile.

"However... there are things we are able to explain to you, Yatsushiro-dono, please do follow us."

The others walk into the other room and I reluctanly follow after, driven more by my curiosity than by any trust I might have in them.

Who are these people? Devils? Espers? Both?

Where do they come from?

Why is Tachan with them? And more importantly...

What does he need me for?

 **Part 2**

I open a pair wooden doors and carefully lay Tatseyo down

His body slightly sinks into the sheets of my bed

"Hah..."

A quick and bitter laugh scapes my mouth as I imagine what Ayumu-chan would say if I told her I was going to take care of Tatseyo in my chambers

I lock the door and cast a seal on it just to be safe. Even if the others know, I can't take any risks with Aya-chan and Ayumu out there.

Slowly, I carefully begin to remove my jewelry, starting by my necklace, then my bracelets, rings and going all the way down to the anklets

"Fufufu, so weird..."

I feel my body getting warmer in embarassment and laugh to myself wondering how these things have become such an intimate part of me to the point where I would feel less exposed without my clothes than I am without my jewelry.

After all the jewels and accessories were removed, I turn to the one laying on my bed and mutter apologetically

"Sorry, Ayumu-chan, Aya-chan, Tatseyo..."

I lay a hand against his cheek, I carefully begin to slid my hand down, passing through his neck and descending untill I reach the bottom of his shirt.

It takes little effort to lift him up so I can remove it, leaving his upper body completely bare.

I hop on the bed and straddle Tatseyo, putting both my hands on his chest.

"Sorry about this..."

It's been a while since I've done this, but I have to do it.

Ah, he'll be so confused when he wakes up...

I swallow down my nervousness and speak barely above a whisper.

"I hope one day I can show you this while you are awake"

 **Afterword** : Thanks for reading this chapter, hope you enjoyed it, now to answer some questions

 **About power level (2)** : I think Tatsumaki is close to Transcendental level. Now, as for Saiki, I have to say you were right, but I think there was a miscommunication

I apologize, but I must say I wasn't taking Saiki lightly, I was actually overestimating the DxD verse. Reading your comment made me wanna read the profiles on their "Vs Battles" wikia and re-read some of the battles in the original story and there I started to see that the Maou class in DxD was seriously overhyped in the beginning. You see, measuring Kusuo's power as a whole is very difficult because what he does is basically a limited form of reality bending, that's why I decided to use raw strength alone to make an example, because by taking all of his powers into account would be almost impossible to reach a precise conclusion in a battle against a physical being, considering the multitude of tricks he can use. But even so, in the lastest volumes of DxD, Ddraig stated that Issei's Crimson Armour can stand up to a Maou. Issei relies heavily in strength, not magic like Vali, so that's why I'm using him as example, yet he can barely destroy a city and still would take more than one attack, so yeah, Kusuo is most likely above Heavenly Dragon class or maybe at Transcendental class in pure raw strength, but I still don't think his strength alone is close to GR or Saitama.

When Kusuo said he could destroy the planet, he explicitly said that it was with his "reality warping" abilities, which he no doubt could do since he altered the entire human DNA on a whim, and that's what I believe he was saying when he mentioned he could already destroy the moon as a child. I also believe he could stand to GR if he took all of his powers in consideration AND could control them, the guy is a monster after all. I'm not saying at all that Saiki is weak and I know for sure he would wipe the floor with the Heavenly Dragons if he was serious, I even edited the last chapter and changed "Maou" to "Heavenly Dragon". But with sheer strength the story changes.

Now, please note that I'm talking about physical feats alone. Saitama getting a bump on his head from Bang's hammer was a joke, but we know it was a joke because of the setting and because we SAW Saitama receive much worse attacks and not even flinch. We saw Saitama fight Boros and not even get a single wound, we saw him get punched by the Deep Sea King and not even be fazed by it, that's why when he gets a hammer bump in his head we know it didn't actually hurt him and the setting was very much comical to begin with, but that's not the case with Kusuo. I agree with the cat cannon thing, it indeed was comical, but the Volcano Arc when it came to battle itself was really not comedy at all, there were real stakes and Kusuo acknowledged that he could have died, also, we never saw Kusuo face something worse to see if he's actually stronger than that and if it's really just comedy.

Finally, Kusuo's power level is a hot topic even in the anime groups I'm a part of in social media (I even got into a pretty heated argument about it once), even the Vs community wasn't able to reach a consensus about who would win in a fight of him versus Mob, but I assure you that it won't be much of a problem in this story, I already have a role for both Saitama and Kusuo in my head and I'll be sure to try my best to make them as kickass as they are in the original story. Sorry about the long rant btw.

 **About Johnny's and Gappy's techniques** : It's an interesting take, the "Infite Spin" thing could be a base to a future ability considering I'm trying to use some degree of science for Tatseyo's powers.

 **About Liliana's father peerage** : I kinda have a few members in mind, but feel free to give suggestions, even if I find them too complicated or impossible to fit with what I have planned for the future of this story, sometimes you guys give good ideas with the suggestions you make.


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